Dragonball Genetica
by Zytharros
Summary: One thousand five hundred years after the death of the legendary Golden Fighters, martial arts and energy control reign supreme, and now a genetic relic from the past will return.
1. The Fists of Dedication

**The Fists of Dedication**

It was a beautiful morning just outside Shine City. The designated parkland of the continent was teeming with visitors of all stripes. Two particular visitors stood at the far north-eastern end of the park in a mountain pass. One stood in the sunlight, attacking an unknown enemy. The other sat at a distance, levitating and training in his mind.

The one standing was a young girl of about ten by the name of Gochu Pitalia. Her black hair, brown eyes, and strong fighting skills spoke of a weathered warrior, having trained since she was a small girl at the Academy of Martial Arts. Her black hair flew like a dark river behind her strong head, and her white, light, fitted clothing felt almost nonexistent on her body as she practiced her fighting. Her white sneakers lay off to the side. Atop them lay a white sweat towel. A direct descendant of a legendary warrior from the past, she had vowed as a small child to be just like him, down to his blond hair. She had dyed it once, but she had given that up quickly as the dye job was all but gone the following hour. She had also been the victor of the past five Galactic Martial Arts tournaments, both in competition and technique fields. However, she just couldn't get the upper hand on her best friend and confidante in energy control. She was easily the victor in power, consistency, agility, and overall fighting prowess, where he always won in innovation, variety, and creativity.

That friend was the levitated body sitting in the shade. He had dark skin and brown eyes. His head was covered only in a white and yellow ball cap, and he sported baggy tan cargo jeans and white T-shirt with the word "Life" in blue and red cursive on the front. His name was Phoenix Levesque, and he was a master of all things energy at the young age of ten. His training consisted mainly of imagining different ways of manipulating energy and getting them to work in reality. Sometimes they worked, but sometimes they did not, though he had a near-85 success rate, the highest in the world. He was always the runner-up of the Galactic Martial Arts Tournament every year.

Gochu and Phoenix had sparred many times in the past, and the battles had always been even and full of fireworks, and always on some distant, uninhabited island. Both knew levitation and flight in some form or another. At the last tournament, hosted by the Tavercis colony in Espeol VII, both of their power levels had registered approximately 2,000 power index count or P.I.C., most often referred to as 'pic', apiece. After Gochu averaged it out, she found that year on year she had been gaining about 300 pic since she had started training. She bought a scouter, a little device one wore over their ear, and had been tracking her power since to push herself to greater gains. She had managed a gain of 170 pic over the four months since the tournament alone. She wanted to make 200 pic by the half-year point.

With the change in ages came a change in the very core of the human race. The Saiyan genome was passed down through the generations from a legendary group of Saiyans, known at this time as the Golden. These Golden gave the gift of intergalactic fighting to the human race, which has inevitably saved humanity countless times over the past fifteen hundred years. This also eliminated the need for weaponry, and all weapons except those which the human could train his or her body to harness were employed. At first, the Saiyan method of marking fighters was used – the power index count or "pic" was used to determine fighters' classes and battle prowess. However, the humans soon learned that pic wasn't as important as the fighters' own personal ability, as this allowed the person's pic to grow faster than and eventually exceed that of his greatest adversary. It was also noted by scientists that the pic was still good as a general guide, but it was the annual effort yield, or A.E.Y., that was more important. The average human would gain about 60 pic annually from a starting power level of approximately two to ten pic, as most humans trained approximately three times a week. However, further research showed that a human's A.E.Y. tripled between the ages of 14 and 25 due to the rapid pubic growth that occurred during that time. The average human registered a good, strong 8,000 pic per person at their peak of 29 years of age, weakening to about 5,000 by the end of their life should they remain in good health.

Gochu's pursuit wasn't of power. It was always to fight someone stronger than her, to find that person to push her and make her fight for her life. The thrill it gave her was immeasurable, especially when it wore her to the breaking point. She always seemed to fight better half-dead in total numbing pain than fully awake. Time seemed to slow. The world was easier to anticipate. It was like she was in an unconscious, comatose state of total wakefulness, relying solely on instinct and adrenaline to get the job done.

Phoenix, on the other hand, was in pursuit of the limits of his imagination. He was insistent on trying to find out the limits of energy control. He had already forgotten more techniques and attacks than most kids learn during their entire lives. In fact, he usually forgot all but the most creative and effective of techniques from the year before after the major tournament ended. It was because of his unpredictability that most foes found him extremely hard to counterattack, though Gochu had learned how to anticipate the unanticipated through their battles.

This year was the thousandth anniversary of the Intergalactic Battle Association. The commemorative festival was to be held in eight months' time, at the next tournament, which Gochu was going to win. She was hoping that her job would allow her to buy a car this year to allow her to go herself, but she knew she would have to ride the shuttle with her father, just like last year.

She stopped fighting the invisible opponent. Sighing, she picked up her towel, wiped her face off with it, slipped her shoes and socks on, and plopped down beside Phoenix. The boy extracted himself from his training, looked over at her, and smiled.

"So, did you get what you wanted?"

Gochu slipped on a scouter, a standard-issue eyepiece for anyone undertaking serious training. It looked like a small Bluetooth headset with a screen that covered the eye. She tapped a button and waited for its' signal. When it came, she sighed.

"No," she said. "I'm off by about three points. If only lunch hours weren't so short…"

The eyepiece came alive with an image of their teacher. "Gochu Pitalia and Phoenix Levesque! Come in, please!"

Gochu tapped the communication button. "Yes, Mr. Strike?"

Mr. Strike was a tubby man, but nobody in the school could match his fighting prowess. Despite having the lowest pic in the entire school at about 900, he had the highest instinct rating in the world. He could tell what you were going to do simply by your breathing at the start of the match! Even Gochu and Phoenix respected him because of that. Unfortunately for Gochu, Phoenix got more out of training with Mr. Strike than she did because he stressed creativity and variety, something she just wasn't good with.

"The school bell will ring in half an hour," Mr. Strike's deep voice crackled through the speaker. "By my scouter, you are about twenty-five minutes away. You should probably make your way back now."

"Yes, Mr. Strike," Gochu said. She hung up.

Phoenix stood up. "That was Mr. Strike."

Gochu nodded. "Yes. He wants us to return to school now."

"I heard," Phoenix confirmed. "But he said we have five minutes, right?"

"I'm not about to get into school late again because we got lost in a fight, OK?" Gochu demanded. "I've been late far too many times this term, and my G.P.A. isn't in the best shape either."

"When have you been concerned about school?" Phoenix asked. "Last I che-"

Gochu launched into the air, flying as fast as a jet would towards school.

Phoenix's face was crossed with a mischievous grin. He began charging up an energy blast. Gochu's scouter snapped on to the sudden increase in power. She stopped, alerted to the danger coming her way.

Phoenix launched a volley of energy strikes at his friend, laying into her with a myriad of energy blasts. Gochu quickly prepared a defence as the volley of energy began to connect. Twenty blasts connected with her arms in rapid succession. She deflected them all away from herself successfully. She generated a blast and smirked back.

"You really know how to goad a girl into a fight," she shouted.

Phoenix held up his hands. "Bring it on!"

Gochu held up her hands. "Let's do this!"

They focussed on generating energy. Their scouters started racking up the energy count, increasing rapidly as the energy they controlled increased. They passed a thousand pic… then two thousand pic passed by. Phoenix thrust his arms and declared his attack…

"Firebird Missile!"

Gochu launched her own… "Calamity Cannon!"

The energy blasts collided. Gochu and Phoenix's strength test had begun! They pushed against each other's blasts for a few intense minutes, summoning every extra ounce of strength within themselves to the battle.

Phoenix smiled. He pulled a hand back and generated a second one.

"Here's what I was working on!" Phoenix shouted. "Firebird Collision!"

His other blast came roaring down the pipeline, spiralling around his already-existent wave… but Gochu didn't look fazed.

With a loud grunt, Gochu's blast split into hundreds of little blasts. She leapt high into the air, allowing Phoenix's blast to hit the earth and explode, creating a giant hole about five metres in diameter. Phoenix looked around.

"I hope I didn't kill her…" he said, biting his nails.

The dust began to settle. He looked around.

"Wait a minute… I know her better than that," he remembered. "She wouldn't die from something like that."

Suddenly, a ball of energy pelted his back. Then two more struck him. He looked up just as Gochu proclaimed her attack…

"Calamity Hail!"

Caught completely off-guard, Phoenix was helpless as Gochu's balls of energy slammed into him and blew up. Then, another thing he didn't expect was his friend ploughing headlong into his stomach and slamming him into the earth. She backflipped, and landed on her feet.

"Now can we get to school?" she asked.

Phoenix nodded, wearily getting up from the thrashing he had just taken. "Yeah… now we can go."

Gochu took off. Phoenix huffed. He had hoped she had been slacking, but he knew it just wasn't true. Gochu wasn't that type of girl. She had been talking about redoubling her training so she could achieve the Goldens' level of power. She had done that and more. Phoenix had been keeping up with her old speed, and now he was falling behind. He looked up as his friend flew off.

"Drat…" he mumbled. "She's really picked up her training this year…" He took off. "That means I'm going to have to catch up."

Phoenix had the type of luck where he always found himself in pursuit of his closest rival, and usually on the losing end. He didn't mind coming in second. He actually enjoyed being the first loser because the champion usually had too much responsibility to take care of – touring, fan autographs, et cetera. Usually it was enough to turn even the most humble fighter into a snob, but not Gochu. She had managed to keep a level head for five straight years and continue to push herself, fighting to maintain her number one rank every year even though she really didn't need to.

Halfway there, Phoenix caught up to Gochu.

"How much time do we have left, Gochu?" Phoenix asked.

Gochu checked her clock on her scouter… "Oh crap! We're gonna be late by ten minutes! Let's step it up, Phoenix!"

Phoenix, shocked, shouted, "What!? We couldn't have battled for more than five minutes! How could we be ten minutes late?"

Gochu looked back. "I don't know, but we better step on it if we hope to make it back to school!"

Phoenix and Gochu shot off into the distance.

About ten minutes later, they saw the school. Mr. Strike was waiting outside the school for them with the rest of their class. Gochu and Phoenix looked at each other in wonder, each pondering what their coach was thinking.

A voice from the ground shouted, "Hey! Gochu! You get kissed up?"

Gochu blushed and shouted, "I'll get you for that, Peatree!"

"Yeah..." a cackling boy replied. "We're waiting to see the kisses on Phoenix's face! Come here and show us the lipstick marks, Phoenix!"

The ground erupted into a roar of laughter. Phoenix and Gochu blushed.

"Let's get 'em…" Gochu said.

Phoenix nodded. "Agreed."

Six of the people on the ground launched upward into the air toward the duo in the sky. Phoenix charged up an energy blast. Gochu stopped and prepared for the assault.

Mr. Strike's deep, booming voice exploded over the school plain.

"Take your frustrations out after school! Now is no time to play games!"

Everyone in the sky froze. At that precise moment the bell rang. The students flew into the school.

"Gochu! Phoenix! You two promised me you were never going to arrive late for class," Mr. Strike said sternly. "You're in detention. Maybe we'll undergo some endurance training after for detention."

"Drat…" Phoenix mumbled.

"What was that?" Mr. Strike shouted.

Phoenix chuckled nervously as he entered the building.

A couple of minutes later everyone was seated at their desks in the eggshell-white classroom. The gray steel granite-topped desks were high enough for them to sit in comfortably. Each desk was equipped with two things: a fifteen-inch widescreen holographic projector known as a 'priva' with which the students did their schoolwork, and a light-pen called a 'lin', the common writing utensil of the age. Most people carried a smaller priva measuring about seven inches and a lin home, plugging their privas into the school's to download the homework for the day if they didn't finish it. Every desk in that twenty-student classroom was filled. Phoenix and Gochu sat in opposite ends of the room because Phoenix loved study and didn't want to be distracted. However, today he wasn't going to get the chance. Within ten minutes, Mr. Strike was out of the classroom and everyone was berating Gochu and Phoenix for their constant 'training'. Slowly Gochu and Phoenix grew more irritated until finally Gochu snapped. She leapt out of her desk and caught one of the students by the cheek, sending him careening into the other students in front of him because Gochu sat at the back of the class. She grabbed a desk and flung it at the pile of students against the wall.

But instead of hitting the students, she hit Mr. Strike.

The teacher by this time was ticked off, so he picked the desk off the ground and looked at Gochu. He turned to the other students and breathed a sigh intending to calm his nerves and maintain his composure.

"Gochu doesn't lose it unless someone pressures her to," he spoke. "Someone in here did something to tick her off."

He looked around at the rest of the class. "If the guilty party or parties does not come forward every last one of you will spend the afternoon in detention. Regardless, Gochu and Phoenix get to go free."

He chucked the desk back at Gochu, who caught it and set it down, tidying it and her stuff up. She sighed.

"But remember, you two have defence training after with me," Mr. Strike quickly reminded him. "I'm also your martial arts instructor."

Gochu and Phoenix nodded and hummed an affirmative reply. They sat down and finished off the day without another incident. The student never bothered the little girl in the back ever again. He had felt her suppressed power and vowed within himself never to awaken such fury again. This was green-haired Peatree, the spiked, cocky son of a snake that always annoyed the crap out of everybody he crossed.

About two hours later, the final bell rang for school. Gochu, Peatree, and Phoenix walked out of school together. Peatree was drilling Gochu on her training techniques, including what she ate, her schedule, everything. Gochu kept shrugging, insisting that Phoenix kept her on her toes most of the time with his creative, quick-thinking nature. That was the main thing that kept her training.

"Oh, come on…" Peatree huffed, indignant that it could be so simple.

Gochu growled in anger, but then sighed. She sat on a park bench.

"What's up, Gochu?" Phoenix asked. "Something's bugging you."

Gochu sighed. "I've never told anyone this, not even you, Phoenix, but there's something deeper than that that drives me. It almost feels like the Golden are within me, just exploding with anger at being kept inside."

Phoenix and Peatree sat beside her, listening intently. Gochu looked at the pair, Peatree to her left, Phoenix to her right. She sighed again.

"Phoenix drives me to higher levels, Peatree… That's certain, without a doubt…"

Gochu slapped her leg. "But it's not enough anymore. Phoenix is barely beginning to challenge me anymore. This planet itself bugs me for some odd reason, like I need more resistance or something. It's almost like I need to travel to the stars to get what I want."

Phoenix looked at her. "So, you weren't using your full power when you fought me. How long has this been going on?"

"The last three months, Phoenix," Gochu said. "I enjoy the fights we get into, but it doesn't feel… I don't know… enough."

Phoenix looked up at her, who now stood in front of them. "How can I help?"

"Beat me to within an inch of my life," Gochu demanded. "Just beat the ever-living tar out of me next time. Let loose. Imagine I'm a rampaging monster."

"B-but…" Phoenix mumbled. "You're not that strong. What if I go too far?"

Gochu repled, "When I tell you to stop, stop. I don't want you to stop until then."

Peatree looked at her, eyeing her up. "You know, if Phoenix is too chicken, I can give you your beating."

"Peatree, you couldn't give a beating to a baby," Gochu said. "I need someone close to my power level to push my limits. Your power was only 650 at the last tournament and you were beaten in two rounds by a five-year-old! It's Phoenix or bust."

At that moment, Peatree resolved to fight to match Gochu. She was his goal now, without equal in value.

"Gochu, train me." Peatree said. "I want to match you in power."

"Then train under me," a voice declared from behind them.

"Mr. Strike!!" Peatree exclaimed.

Mr. Strike, now dressed in tan khaki pants and a light blue shirt and appearing very casual, stood imposingly above the children.

"No, I want Gochu to train me," Peatree demanded.

The bald man looked the boy up and down. Smiling, he shook his head.

"No. Gochu hasn't yet completed her training under me yet. She must pass my final exam before she can train someone."

Gochu nodded, but blushed. "I haven't been working on it…"

Mr. Strike's face dropped. He sighed. "I can't train an unteachable soul, Gochu. Do it or you're out of my dojo."

Gochu gasped. "No! You can't!"

The aged man sighed once more. "It's my dojo, Gochu… Those are the rules. You only have two weeks left before you can start passing my techniques on."

"No…" the little girl whined. "It's too hard…"

Without looking back, the ancient warrior replied, "You can, Gochu. You can qualify for the Adult Tournament. I never asked for a win. Just to qualify is enough."

Phoenix placed his hand on her shoulder. "I know you're scared, but you can do this. It's in your blood. Your dad was a fighter. So was his dad."

The girl gathered herself. She clenched her teeth tightly together. Looking at her master's back, she nodded.

"O-okay, Mr. Strike," she said, still scared out of her mind. "I will."

He chuckled. "Good. I'll expect to see you in the ring in two weeks."

Gochu, Phoenix and Peatree watched Mr. Strike walk away. Gochu dropped her head, also intent on walking away, when Peatree stopped her.

"Gochu," he began.

But Gochu just brushed his hand away. "Go away, Peatree. I need to train."

Peatree was left alone as Gochu and Phoenix flew off into the wild blue yonder.

_Dammit, Gochu…_ Peatree thought, _I will NOT be shirked off like this… I will make you train me._

"I want to know your strength," he said. "I will be your rival, not Phoenix."

He took off in the other direction, intent on doing some training of his own.


	2. In Pursuit of Excellence

In Pursuit of Excellence

Gochu sighed. She couldn't enter the adult tournament yet! She was only ten! She was nowhere near the strength needed for the tournament. Why, to qualify you had to at least be twelve or something. That was the age of the world's youngest qualifier: another legend from about two hundred years ago. This child was so powerful that it was rumoured he could take down hundreds of typical army fighters and not break a sweat doing so. Mr. Strike had also heard of him, but unfortunately didn't have the chance to fight this warrior.

Gochu sighed again. Everyone seemed more powerful than her.

Phoenix, chasing after her, left her alone with her thoughts. He was really depressed. He felt upset that she had done so much more than he had. He was her chief sparring partner, responsible for keeping her on her toes and growing... yet in the last three months he hadn't even done that. He felt useless.

Peatree was about three hundred miles away on an island in the middle of a nearby ocean, pounding at the air and wailing on foes he couldn't see. He was very determined to see that he was the champion of this year's Child Tournament, and not Gochu or Phoenix.

Gochu slowed to analyze the world around her. She reflected on the docs, or documents, she had read in class about the Golden. It was said that the leader of the Golden, a fighter named Goku, was a headstrong fighter who loved battle. He was pure and good-hearted, a very good father, and an excellent teacher to boot. He was the strongest of all the Golden as well, and responsible for saving them time and time again. He didn't give up when faced with adversity, so why could she not get over her fears? She wondered what he thought and felt as he went through the same things she did. Was it fear? Anticipation? Determination? She wanted him here to ask him.

She took a deep breath again. She decided not to worry about the tournament. Mr. Strike had said she had to only qualify only, not win, so if she did enough to qualify, at least, she would pass his training and move on to her own training. She could satisfy this nagging feeling within for a bigger challenge.

She smiled and stopped. Phoenix stopped about two metres behind her, pondering what she could be thinking.

"Phoenix!" she shouted.

The boy looked at her back in query. "What?"

"Catch!"

Without any warning, Phoenix saw a giant yellow ball fly at him. He quickly mustered up a defence, just enough to deflect most of the energy away from him. His arm became sore from the blow.

"What was that for?" he shouted.

Gochu smiled a warrior's smile. "We need to get ready for the adult tournament. I'm taking you with me."

Phoenix gasped. "You're going to..."

Gochu nodded. "I'm going to train you to be as strong as I am, and in the process, hopefully we will be able to make the tournament."

Phoenix replied, "I like them apples! Let's do it!"

Gochu flung herself at her friend, generating a blast of energy using half her power. Phoenix felt the increase. He charged up a blast, matching hers stride for stride in terms of power. Seconds later, they threw the blasts at each other, connecting solidly and causing a massive explosion.

Within seconds, another massive explosion rocked the airwaves. This was unusual for the area. A quiet, residential neighbourhood, the area wasn't prone to a lot of crime. Stalled from their fighting, they spotted the explosion immediately and flew down to deal with it.

A person dressed entirely in black was flying away with a couple sacks of cash. The bank in the area had a hole blown in one of the walls. Gochu looked at Phoenix.

"Phoenix, you go and take care of the robber. I'll go down and see about any survivors," Gochu ordered.

Phoenix nodded. "Sure."

Gochu dove headfirst into the surface as Phoenix chased after the culprit.

"Hey! Stop!" Phoenix shouted.

The man, cloaked in black and with dark glasses on, smirked. He turned, tucked a bag of cash under an arm, and fired a blast shouting, "Make me!"

Phoenix deflected the attack without incident or injury. The man continued on his way. Phoenix sped up, intent on capturing this criminal. The fiend looked back.

_Damn! He's not giving up!_ He thought.

Phoenix fired three blasts at the arm with the bags. He connected solidly, dislodging the bags from their hold and sending them plummeting to the earth. His scraggly left arm was now exposed in parts from where the beams hit. The man groaned loudly, slowly turning towards Phoenix.

"You stupid fool!" the man shrieked.

Phoenix retorted, "Who's more foolish: the man who steals or the kid who gets the stolen goods back?"

"Don't play word games with me!" the thief shouted again, firing two blasts at Phoenix. "Have at you!!"

Phoenix held out his hand, generating an energy barrier. The blasts were absorbed into the force field. The man grew angrier. He fired tens of hundreds of shots into Phoenix's electric barrier, but none penetrated!

"Give up and give the money back!" Phoenix shouted. "I don't want to have to fight, but I will if necessary."

The man chuckled. "Then a fight is what you'll get!"

He ripped off his sleeves and began charging energy at a rapid rate. Phoenix dropped the barrier, himself slowly charging up his power within. Suddenly, the man vanished. Phoenix's jaw dropped just as he was hit from behind. He plummeted to the earth. Just before connecting with the rocks, the villain drilled Phoenix's back with his toe, shoving Phoenix two feet into the earth. Just as Phoenix's body stopped, the man kicked off the boy's body, flipping in the air and landing ten feet away.

The man smirked. "Stupid kid..."

Phoenix chuckled. The man was astounded! How could Phoenix take so much punishment? The boy slowly erected himself.

"Do you even know who I am?" he asked.

The thief charged. "Who cares? You all die the same anyway!"

Phoenix threw his hands into the air. "If you insist..."

The man smiled. His face twisted slightly. "No, you'll die!"

He fired three sharp blasts.

Phoenix shrugged. "Suit yourself."

A massive surge of energy erupted from Phoenix in the form of a thousand small blasts. The sharp blasts of the thief blew up after connecting with the shell.

The thief stopped cold. He swallowed.

"W-who did you say you were again?"

Phoenix spread his arms out. The balls lined up in a rainbow fashion over his head. He grunted, and the balls fused together. Now there were roughly five hundred of these suckers, and they were twice as large as before!

"I'm Phoenix Levesque, second place finisher in the Universal Junior Martial Arts Association's annual tournaments," the boy declared.

The man grew angrier. "You can't be... Kids aren't supposed to get that strong!"

Phoenix relaxed. "When your best friend's only hobby is fighting, you get very strong," he replied. Some of the energy balls returned inside and dispersed in the form of energy waves emanating from his body.

The thief roared. He was furious now. "Fine! I'll show you how strong I really am! Take this!"

He brought his power to bear in one massive roar... but Phoenix just shrugged.

"I'm still twice as strong as you," he stated.

The thief burst out laughing. "You!? You're a kid! The most you could be is about three-quarters what I am... How could you be stronger?"

Phoenix brought the remaining energy balls within himself, then began powering up. He compressed his body into a tight ball, concentrating the energy even further.

The man chuckled as he pulled out his scouter. "Let's get some numbers on this moron..."

He waited for the scouter to register a power level... and screeched.

"Ten thousand and climbing!?" he exclaimed. "This kid's nuts!"

Phoenix broke his power-up concentration to reply, "If you think I'm nuts, my friend is at least 40% stronger than me!"

He continued powering.

_If he continues like this..._ the man thought, _he could indeed surpass me..._

Phoenix stopped powering up. The man breathed a sigh of relief.

_Phew... he stopped... _The thief sighed in relief. _10,100... That was close..._

Phoenix smiled. "You're glad I stopped."

The boy started walking towards his assailant. "I could go higher... at least 1,000 pic, if I heard you right... but I don't think that's fair."

The man grew cross at the little boy. _He's taunting me... He really could go higher. That just makes me so mad..._

Phoenix took a fighting stance. "Come on, fluffy."

Thief-dude backed up, very obviously frightened. "You... you won't get away with this."

Phoenix chuckled. "I've been waiting all day. Just attack me!!"

The thief spat into his eye. Phoenix bent over, wiping the spit from his eye, and as he did so, the man flew off laughing. When the boy had cleared the spit from his optics, he grunted angrily as the man had escaped. He put it out of his mind as he flew back to help Gochu look after the injured, but something inside him told him that this would not be the last time he saw that thief.

"I hope he tries to come back," Phoenix muttered. "When he does, I'll make sure he never forgets Phoenix Levesque!"

Phoenix roared off in a jet-propelled blaze of light.


	3. The Tiered Pressure Cooker

The Tiered Pressure-Cooker

Nothing much happened over the next couple of weeks. Phoenix, Gochu, and Peatree continued to split time between training and school, with Peatree training the hardest out of the three often to the point of dropping to the ground out of exhaustion. Their powers would evolve and increase, until the day of the tournament. Gochu would cease training two days before the tourney would commence to relax and reflect on what she could learn about the potential opponents she would face. Phoenix would stop training the day before, with the following day being one of rest, meditation, and psychological preparation. Peatree would continue training, even right up until the last hour, just before the tournament, even on the ship as they left for Emverion III, where the tournament was being held.

There were ten challenges, each to eliminate ten contestants until the twenty-man round robin would begin. Then, the double-round-robin tournament would decide the top eight fighters, each of which would make it to the Championship Round who would then fight in a tiered-style tournament until the Champion stood. Peatree would not pass the challenge round, failing to place in the top two in eight of the ten challenges in his class due to fatigue It would be recorded in the Galactic Battle Association records that he had actually lost power from the previous year, when he barely failed to appear in the medal rounds of the Child's Division. Gochu and Phoenix would both pass the challenges and qualify, though Phoenix would get in on a disqualification after placing third overall in the ten events. Gochu, however, would sweep her class and create universe records for a rookie in four. Gochu and Phoenix would both pass the double-round-robin, again Phoenix by a hair and Gochu flying through it, and they would be paired in the first round of the tournament. Both fighters knew the outcome, but Phoenix agreed that he and Gochu would give the fans the show of their lives.

The two fighters squared off in the ring, eyeing each other down.

Gochu smirked. "It's too bad we met in the first round, buddy!"

"Likewise, my friend," Phoenix replied. "I was hoping to get rid of some of these cream puffs as a warm up!"

Those on the bench growled in fury. A couple of them laughed. One particular pretty-boy of a fighter, clad entirely in a while Elvis-like suit with golden tassels, shouted out of his pointy jawed face at Phoenix.

"You couldn't hit me if you tried! You finished last in the challenges, and that was only due to a disqualification!"

Phoenix smirked, "I save my best for the ring, not some piddly challenges. They're a waste of time."

The large, bald, fat bison of a beast next to the unusually slick-looking model of a fighter shouted, "Yeah, and you're my grandma's punching-bag!"

Phoenix brushed them off. "Just watch me fight."

Gochu smiled. "You ready?"

Phoenix chuckled. "You bet I am."

The referee initiated the countdown...

"3... 2... 1... FFFIIIGGGHHHTTT!"

Phoenix and Gochu unleashed a couple of huge blasts right out of the gate, astonishing their naysayers with how well-held-together, directed, and just plain powerful they were. When their blasts connected, they didn't hold them for dramatic purposes like other fighters did, however. They let them blow up, and dove directly into the explosion. When the light and the shockwave from the blast had subsided, the two were trading blows madly at centre court. Soon they broke apart, returning to their starting stations and smiling. They were enjoying this.

Gochu chuckled. "You surprised me there. You've been training pretty hard, Phoenix. You've gotten better."

Phoenix let out a chuckle of his own. "I had some help."

They charged up and leapt into battle again.

Meanwhile, in the stands, Peatree was sitting by Mr. Strike, arms folded, huffing and puffing and complaining.

"It should be ME out there, not that twit," he said, indicating Phoenix with a wave of his hand. "I worked twice as hard as everyone, so why am I sitting out?"

Mr. Strike sat there, stone-faced, eyes locked on the battle. He was analyzing both Phoenix and Gochu, seemingly without paying attention to his new pupil.

"Hey! Gramps!" Peatree shouted.

"I don't respond to 'Gramps'. It's Mr. Strike or Master Strike," the wizened old man said. "If you wish to address me, do it _properly!_"

"Yeah, yeah, Mr. Strike..." the kid said with a hint of mockery in his voice. "So why am I not out there?"

"Because you lack the fighter's spirit," replied.

Peatree jumped up. "I've got the fighter's spirit! I know I do! So why am I not out there! Give me a better answer than that."

Mr. Strike sat back in his chair. For the first time in the entire tournament he took his eyes away from the fight, affixing them firmly on his new pupil.

"You have the spirit of a selfish little boy who cares only for himself and how strong he appears to everyone else," Mr. Strike declared. "The desire to get stronger is that of the fighter's. The desire to show off the strength is not."

Peatree huffed, groaning in pure disappointment. He hated when one of his teachers got it that correct.

"Learn to still your selfish nature," the teacher advised. "You will be better off. How do you think I fight with such a low power level?"

Peatree shrugged. "You can't be that strong. Seriously." The child looked at him with a challenge in his eyes. "I could probably beat you."

"If you can, then do," Mr. Strike retorted. "I don't have time to waste training someone who thinks power level is everything when I could be training someone who listens to what I say."

Peatree grew hot with anger. He stood up and firmly affixed his hand at the scruff of Mr. Strike's blue, palm tree hemmed Hawaiian shirt. The old man was unfazed.

"Bring it on," Peatree challenged. "Right here. Right now."

Without a word, Mr. Strike grabbed him by his hair, flipped the child over and drilled his face into the stands. The old man then picked Peatree up and sat him nicely on his chair. Peatree was stunned, but not unconscious.

"Check and mate," Mr. Strike said. "As I said, power level isn't everything."

Having recovered from the stunningly fast attack, Peatree snarled in angry frustration. He couldn't even see the old man move!

"When you learn this lesson I will continue training you," Mr. Strike continued. "Until then, you are not welcome in my dojo!"

Peatree growled again, curling his small frame into a tight ball on the chair as he watched Gochu and Phoenix go at it. He was right ticked off... ticked off with Mr. Strike... ticked off with Phoenix... but mostly ticked off with Gochu. She trained just as hard as he did, yet her power leapt leaps and bounds above everyone else. It wasn't fair!

"I WILL be stronger than Gochu!" Peatree declared before stomping out of the arena in total fury.

Mr. Strike shook his head. He knew where he was going. Every kid that turned bad went there. It was a dark arts school, one of those that encouraged illegal moves and forbidden training practices to get artificial growth. He sighed and hoped Peatree would come to his senses before he got too deeply involved. Then, he turned his attention back to the battle, focussing on his two star pupils, both of whom surpassed Mr. Strike's qualify challenge.

"I can no longer teach these two extraordinary young ones anything," he said. "It will be up to them to find greater masters to train under."

Phoenix and Gochu continued trading blows, some of them landing with explosive shockwaves of resonance. In a short while, though, the battle was over. Gochu performed a successful counter-punch combo that sent Phoenix out of bounds, crashing into the earth out of the ring. Gochu landed back on the playing field. Phoenix stood up from the hole he had created, waving at the fans and breathing heavily. Gochu helped Phoenix out of the ring and into the boys' locker room before progressing to the girls' room. Mr. Strike joined Phoenix in the locker room to discuss his fight, as was the custom after every battle. Gochu and Phoenix washed up in their respective locker rooms, then stayed to watch the final four fights of the quarterfinals. However, Gochu and Phoenix weren't able to make it through the third fight as both were sound asleep, so Mr. Strike took them back to their hotel, where they rested up for the next day's matches.

The adult tournament was extremely gruelling for youngsters. The tournament was usually over in approximately two Earth months, with matches and events every day until the tournament was over.

The following day was Gochu's quarterfinal round. She stepped out onto the field, waving at the crowd. She was visibly tired, though, and without a lot of her usual pep. Her opponent, a lean, lanky, serious, and very tall man announced as "Ruxero Flask". He wore a tuxedo and full top hat. His hands were clad in white, and he had a monocle and black shoes, as well as a gold-tipped, black cane – a gentlemanly fellow in every respect.

He stepped up to the platform, waving at the crowd who was cheering him on. He noted his opponent's decreased stamina and smiled.

"You know," he said, speaking with an accent that was a cross between Scottish and British, "if you're feeling a little under, we could postpone the fight until another time."

Gochu chuckled. "I wouldn't hear of it. The challenge is arousing to me!"

Ruxero Flask mumbled. "I do not like fighting those not at their peak. It's less a challenge for me."

"You haven't met someone like me yet, then," Gochu replied. "You may not believe me, but as I weaken I get stronger."

"The last person I fought that said that fell apart in battle," he reflected. "I cannot have that happen again."

Gochu began to get a little bit irritated. "I want to fight! Is that too much to ask?"

Ruxero Flask sighed, expecting another throwaway win. "As you wish..."

Gochu smiled. "That's what I like to hear!"

She prepared her Calamity Hail attack. Her opponent readied his cane, bowing as he prepared to leap at her. His cane extended to thrice its' size, becoming a full-blown nine-foot-long black steel staff. He tossed his hat off to the side.

"Now, let your destruction commence!" he screamed, leaping for the little girl.

Gochu smirked. She saw her chance right from the get-go. She unleashed her Calamity Hail attack, but Ruxero Flask was ready for it. He swung his staff at the blast intended to blow him skyward, deflecting it back at Gochu. He then spun his staff around, reflecting all the other blasts back at her as well. Gochu had a difficult time dodging them, but she managed to avoid them all... but there was one near-fatal flaw that occurred – she left herself wide open by putting her back towards her opponent! He swung his staff hard, striking it across her back and sending her directly towards the earth outside the arena! Just before she hit, she unleashed a second hurriedly-generated Calamity Hail at the earth, allowing her to float mere inches from her tiered demise. She quickly turned herself around, but had to fly out of the way fast as Ruxero Flask fired his Rose Dance attack at her, a spiralling fury of a thousand sharp rose-petal-shaped energy blades. She walked on the walls, launching herself back at the arena with a quick kick. She turned and fired three quick shots. They connected solidly with the tuxedoed wonder, who was diving down to finish her off. Unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough to get out of range of his staff, and he swung, connecting hard and sending her flying into the stadium floor within the ring. She left a two-foot-deep impression where she lay.

The referee began the count-off... "1... 2... 3..."

Gochu kicked herself up out of the hole into a backwards flip and landed just within the ring. The battle was back on! Tuxedo Flask, who was floating slowly down to the ground, was caught completely unawares as Gochu sent a punch straight into his gut. She fired off two quick beams, then leapt up into the air after him, delivering a strong, swift elbow to the small of his back, redirecting his flight trajectory and causing him to crash into her impression, creating an even deeper one.

She chuckled and heaved a couple breaths of exhaustion. "If I wasn't a fighter, I'd be playing basketball! Man, I'm good!"

Suddenly, a shout came from the hole...

"Deluxe Cheeseburger!"

A massive brown and yellow blast erupted from the hole. Gochu prepared a blast of her own...

"Calamity C-"

She couldn't match his energy blast in time. Just before she was able to get it off, the blast connected with her, knocking the wind out of her and sending her crashing to the earth outside the arena. She lay down, gasping for air as her tournament fate was all but sealed with the announcement of Ruxero Flask's victory. When she finally caught air, she had a small coughing, gasping fit. The ref finished counting her out just as she sat up. She sighed, but honourably accepted her defeat. She walked up to Ruxero Flask and held out her hand.

"A stupid child enters the adult tournament," Ruxero sneered. "This isn't the baby league anymore, princess."

He walked off the stage, mumbling something about "a waste of time" and complaining about that "an age limit should be imposed". Hearing every word as he walked away, Gochu flinched. Biting her tongue, she walked off the stage. Never before had a fellow fighter been so cruel to her. Something inside her flared up – a ruthlessness she never knew she possessed. She whirled around and shouted at Ruxero Flask...

"The next time we meet, you're going to lose. Mark my words."

Ruxero just burst into laughter. "Dream on, little whelp, dream on!"

She curled her lip and bit down slightly on it. She was going to make him eat those words next year, no matter what.


	4. Mr Strike's Tale

Mr. Strike's Tale

"Darn it!" Gochu shrieked.

Mr. Strike looked back at his pupil. It had been a week since she had lost in the tournament. They were back home on Earth, well southwest of East City. She was having a tough time finding someone who would train her on a different planet with heavier gravity. She called several people from a ten-times gravity planet nearby called Zeiart, but they laughed at her 15,000 pic power level reading. She tried five-times planets Dirka VI and Leon IX, but they were full of army recruits. She even tried the agency in the moon of the two-times-gravity planet Earth III in the same solar system, but they were booked for years.

Mr. Strike sipped his coffee. He knew Gochu's problems well. He had been at that point before as well, in his younger days.

"Listen well, little Gochu," he put down his coffee. "I was once a star fighter, with 4,082 wins and 417 losses over 4,499 matches and several organized leagues, including the Galactic Battle Association, my participation of which was established in my nineteenth year of competition by the takeover of the Professional Battle League. I also had a pic of nearly 50,000, on par with the army of the day, which at the time was inconceivable. But as for how I got there? Far from glamorous."

Gochu cocked her head aside. "How? You're such a great fighter."

"The Professional Battle League, the premier fighting tournament of the day, was overcrowded with strong talent. There was no one fighter for the League to use as its' face, so even though I had sped up the ranks into the Youth Battle Association, so had everyone else in my generation. My pace was normal. Average. So when it came time to find an agent, they usually went with kids who were flashy and showboat-y, which I wasn't. Even though I had held onto the league title for two years, a feat not accomplished since, oh, about fifty years prior, I wasn't even considered. So, as a result, I didn't get picked up until I became "Gelshazzar the Invincible" in my last year of juniors, blowing my three-year streak but landing me a lucrative PBL contract. Only after that did I get training calls for times-gravity planets. As Gelshazzar the Invincible I managed to win three years in, but by that time I was sick of being a mask. So, during a show, I ripped it off and performed once again as Mr. Sparta Strike, this time adding a bit of charisma to my act."

Gochu laughed. "You were one of those old fighters with stupid tights?"

A chuckle escaped from the old man. "Yep, Gochu, Mr. Strike was in tights when he was younger. In fact, I lost the tights because I found out that people preferred my actual name, shortened to 'Mr. Strike', over my stage name when they found out about it. However, the point is this, Gochu: It takes a lot of work to make it big. Nobody who's talented starts that way. You yourself were as coordinated as a pole."

Gochu blushed. "Mr. Striiiiike..." she whined. "Don't bring that up again."

"Okay," he chuckled. "My point remains, though, and it's what I've been saying all along."

Gochu echoed his next sentence. "You can't get anything without giving first."

Gochu sighed again. "I know, sir, I know... But sometimes it's too hard."

"Patience comes with hardship and age," Mr. Strike continued. "Practice is what gets the job learnt, and habit is what makes it better. Combine the three and you're assured of success in whatever you try."

The girl at the table nodded. Then she looked around. "Where's Phoenix?"

"I sent him out to do some errands, Gochu," the aged teacher said. He picked up a pot and filled it with water. "I'm about to get dinner started. Why don't you pick some vegetables out of your garden?"

"Okay," Gochu said cheerily.

Mr. Strike heard the door slam. As he heard the door slam behind Gochu, he gritted his teeth and sat down. His back began acting up again. A couple of tears streamed down his face.

_Oh, Gochu, Phoenix..._ he thought, _I hope you can live on once I die._

He hadn't told them yet. On his last doctor's visit, he had been told that he was no longer to practice martial arts. His bones had become incredibly frail. He wouldn't even be able to spar anymore. He tried to generate even a small energy ball, but it was useless. He cupped his head in his hands. He had no idea how long he had, but they had to find someone they could live with. Government regulations stated that they couldn't live on their own until they were at least fourteen years old.

He stood up and looked at Gochu through the window. Of all his students, he cared the most for Gochu and Phoenix. They were his children. Pursuing his career gave him a lot of time for partners, yes, but no real love bonds. As a youth, he had turned down several women looking for his hand in dating. He had even had a couple marriage proposals from women who wanted to travel with him and raise his family, but he turned even them down because he thought they would've been a distraction. How he wished he hadn't now! He knew what type of girl he wanted – a short, caring, petite woman with brown hair and a good-looking body. He had so many chances! So many! At the peak of his fame, girls were literally throwing themselves at him.

He sat up and composed himself, breathing deeply. He had chosen this path young, and now, in his opulent mansion on almost forty acres of land, he was living his dreams.

"Don't get caught up in the 'wouldas', Strike," he warned himself. "You chose this life. No sense in regrets."

Suddenly, a loud warning siren blared across the planet.

"Invaders! Invaders!"

The sky lit up with thousands of explosions and terrible war-sounds. Gochu bolted inside when she heard them. She dumped the vegetables in the sink, then ran outside and stood there, fists clenched.

"Mr. Strike! Do you see that!" she shouted.

The old man felt a chill in his bones as the battle came lower to the ground. Those ships were the same raiders that almost conquered Earth sixty years prior, when he was only twenty. He was called upon to defeat their leader, a madman by the name of Rokotaz, but instead of beating him, he merely drove him off the planet. The man's strength was terrible, and their army's rightly so. Getting closer could only mean one thing – they had gotten stronger on par with Earth's army, and were just as strong as back then. He grew colder as he stood up, hobbling his way to the door.

"Gochu!" he called. "We need to leave! Now!"

The kid flew off. Mr. Strike tried to fly, but he got two feet into the air before collapsing in pain to the ground. Gochu turned around just as a star ship cashed into the sea near the mountains where they lived. She flew down and collected the old man, slinging him over her shoulders. They flew off into their mountain shelter to hide.

As they set down, Gochu watched Mr. Strike collapse onto a chair. His skin felt cold to the touch.

"What's wrong, Mr. Strike?" she asked.

Mr. Strike closed his eyes, breathing deeply. He sat up again, this time stronger. "Nothing, dear." But something was wrong. Very wrong.

"What are those spaceships doing here?" a frightened Phoenix screamed, entering the cave. "I thought we were in peace time!"

Mr. Strike frowned. "Those are Shizarlis spaceships. They're a race of large human-like creatures. They stand between seven and nine feet in height. They have armour-like, silver skin, four black eyes, two nostrils for a nose, and seven fingers on each hand and foot. They also know how to kick the bajeebus out of a planet's army because they're a warrior race. All they've known for their entire existence is war, whether it's self-made or as part of a galactic struggle."

"You sound like you've met them before," Phoenix said as they watched two ships land just outside the city.

"Yes, I have, Phoenix," Mr. Strike replied. "I drove their general off this planet sixty years ago."

"But you won't be able to do it again," Gochu commented.

Mr. Strike winced as the back pain returned. "No, Gochu, you're right. I can't."

He lay back on the bed. Phoenix and Gochu watched as the ship's crews and Earth's ground army mobilized to fight them. Two small Tracer-class star ships fired lasers and destroyed their ship from above, swooping back up and away.

Gochu looked back at Mr. Strike, "How strong are these guys?"

Mr. Strike shot up. "I forbid you to fight them! You're about a fifth of their power level right now, little lady, s-ouch..."

Mr. Strike collapsed back onto the bed again. He sighed. Gochu and Phoenix ran to him. He blew some air out between his teeth.

"This not-being-able-to-do-anything SUCKS!" he shouted.

Gochu and Phoenix looked at each other.

"I'll go and scout," Phoenix said. "Gochu, you stay with Mr. Strike 'til I get back. I'll find out what these enemies are like."

Mr. Strike sighed loudly.

Phoenix stopped. Gochu whipped her head back to Mr. Strike.

"If you must go, go together. They don't battle in anything less than pairs."

"What about you?" Gochu asked.

"They couldn't detect my power level if they wanted to," he said, the tone in his voice resonating with anger. "I'm no threat. Keep your power levels low, though."

Gochu and Phoenix nodded. They started to prepare to fly, but Mr. Strike stopped them again.

"No flying! They'll detect that for sure!"

Gochu and Phoenix relaxed, remembering his words. They ran deep into the field nearby, hoping to catch a glimpse of the invaders.

What they saw when they got there was nothing less than a shocker.

The field was full of fire and smoke! The invaders had streamed out of ships and attacked the people of Earth. They had left Shine City in ruins, seizing every corner of the city and killing off anyone who did not name their leader, a man Gochu caught the name of as "Rokotaz", as king. Gochu bit her lip as she watched the innocent people of Shine City become victims of this Rokotaz army.

Phoenix felt a powerful jump in energy from his friend.

"Don't do it, Gochu," he warned. "You know what Mr. Strike said – they've got power levels five times your own."

Gochu swallowed. "That's the thing that's got me so eager to fight. It's a challenge that I can't pass up!"

Phoenix sighed. "There's nothing I can do to change your mind, is there?"

"Not a chance in hell," Gochu replied.

Phoenix sighed. "We'll be getting in some serious trouble for this…"

Gochu and Phoenix took off to Shine City to defend its citizens from the invaders.


	5. Omega's Buffet

Omega's Buffet

When they arrived, Gochu and Phoenix scouted the decimated landing site for any sign of the living. The marks were of a one-sided war zone – all the blasts went out from one location, though a couple made it into the barrage. Corpses littered the earth and the smell of death was rampant. They raised their guards and hid behind an apartment building just as two giant thugs passed them by, each at least ten feet tall.

Gochu swallowed. "I thought Mr., Strike said they were only nine feet tall…"

Phoenix shushed her. "Focus on their power levels. Height rarely means anything when fighting."

Gochu hummed a nervous confirmation.

They peeked around a corner, looking all around the ruins for guards. They darted from building to building, searching for something. Phoenix wondered why she wasn't attacking any of the smaller power levels.

Then he sensed it.

The behemoth.

The motherload.

And Gochu was heading straight for it!

Phoenix tackled Gochu. He dragged her into an alley and slammed her back against a wall.

"What the heck do you think you're doing, crazy lady?" he hissed. "That power level is so damn high it makes the world's circumference seem like a pea in a sea of basketballs! You can't just walk up to him and-"

They froze. No less than six guards stood around them, energy balls and evil smirks waiting to be noticed. Each was a different race, and each was a different height.

Phoenix and Gochu held their breaths as one of their assailants spoke.

"This area is now under the control of the Almighty Rokotaz. Prepare to die."

Suddenly, a rush of energy blew the six away. Gochu stood up, glaring at them. Phoenix gasped.

"Where have you been hiding this power!" he queried.

Gochu was breathing heavily.

"Shush!" she said. "That was a technique called Calamity Pulse - a one-shot eruption of energy to give us time to escape!"

Phoenix and Gochu darted out of that situation fast. They ran, and fast.

"Get back here!" their assailants shouted.

A blast skimmed the top of Gochu's head, razing off some of her hair. She paid the blast no never mind and kept running. Phoenix was missed twice by blasts. He looked back.

"They're gaining on us, Gochu!" he shrieked.

_Why haven't they flown yet?_ Gochu asked herself.

Gochu took off in full flight speed. Phoenix followed suit a couple seconds later. Their assailants slowed down and stopped, watching them disappear into the horizon.

About a couple hundred feet away, Gochu and Phoenix landed.

"What was that about, Gochu?" Phoenix asked. "You have to tell me what you're thinking."

"Why didn't they fly to catch us?" Gochu asked. "If they wanted us dead so badly, they should've just flown and caught us."

"Now that you mention it, that was kind of strange," Phoenix recalled. "Their power levels indicated some type of flight training."

Gochu leaned up against the cliff face. "They're clearly here to take over the planet. There are usually only two orders given when a planet is dominated – take captives, or kill them all. Why let us go?"

"Maybe they're just physically strong, and that's why their power is so great," Phoenix contemplated. "They were stellar runners."

"We have to find out what's going on here. There's more than domination going on," Gochu said. "Do you have any idea where Peatree is?"

"Huh? Peatree?" Phoenix asked. "Why would we need him?"

Gochu glanced around. "I felt his power here a short while ago. We need his help if we're going to take these guys on."

She walked to the edge of the cliff as Phoenix shrugged his shoulders.

"Last I heard of him, he was heading to the Origami Panther dojo to get some training he was sure would beat you."

Gochu sighed. "That boy…"

Suddenly, army reinforcements rained down from the sky and destroyed the area where they just escaped from. Gunshots and laser fire were heard in the distance. Gochu watched the violent encounter with disdain, both for her lack of participation and her distaste for full-scale war.

"We better go find him. It may not be safe anywhere on Earth now," Gochu said. "We better move us and Mr. Strike to an island I discovered two years ago. That would be the safest place for us now."

"Is that island the one you call 'Kame Island'?" Phoenix asked.

Gochu nodded. "It has a decaying house with a sign on it saying 'Kame'. Maybe we can hole up there 'til the war ends."

Phoenix nodded. "Smart idea. There's also good training room on the surrounding islands, too, from what you say."

So they proceeded to do as they had said. They flew home first, to Mr. Strike's opulent mansion.

They found it gutted and charred!

"Oh, no… Mr. Strike!"

Gochu flew down in a wild panic as Phoenix slowly descended to the earth. The frantic girl searched the house furiously to unearth any sign of the old man she thought of as dad since hers died four years earlier. Phoenix's parents were both claimed in the same accident that claimed Gochu's – a cruise liner that hit an unmapped shallow water reef. Tearing up the house, Gochu unearthed nothing except a set of doors under the dishwasher under the kitchen. She called Phoenix over.

"Do you think Mr. Strike got down here?" she asked.

Phoenix shrugged. They slipped down into the secret cellar, descending down several stairs before the dishwasher-door closed behind them. They followed the stairs down, to an underground hallway.

Phoenix gasped. "I had no idea this was even down here…"

Gochu nodded. "I know. It's creepy."

"You're telling me…" Phoenix mumbled.

They followed the stone tube for what felt like forever, always moving in a straight line down the dimly-lit corridor. Occasionally, an out-of-place metal panel would bump out from the wall, rodents would race around, and various bugs would show up for a split second, then disappear.

Then they heard faint coughing.

"Mr. Strike!" the pair chorused simultaneously. They kicked up their steps into a sprint of joy.

The hallway curled left, and continued to curl left until they came to a ladder. The coughing was clearer now, so they scampered up the ladder and into a cave. The cave was lit by a couple of large, round kerosene lanterns. It had an unnaturally smooth floor. A rickety wooden table and a couple of newer-looking, oak chairs were placed slightly off-center of the whole cave. There was a chest with two small locks near the table, and three brand new mattresses near the back of the cave. A small cabinet assembly with a pump-faucet nearby indicated a makeshift kitchen surrounding the rest of the table. The mattresses were covered by three quilts, one blue with pink florals, one green with a white tiger pattern, and one purple striped with black. Mr. Strike was curled up tightly underneath the blue blanket.

"Are you okay?" Gochu asked, trotting to his bedside.

Phoenix looked around. Had Mr. Strike anticipated this attack and set this up just for the occasion?

Mr. Strike sat up just as Gochu got to his bedside. Seemingly reading Phoenix's thoughts, he chuckled.

"You found my bomb shelter," he said. "I built this to prepare for any war or invasion. Can't be too careful, now."

Phoenix smiled.

"Yes, I'm fine, Gochu," said, addressing her concerns. "I was waiting to see if you'd come and find me."

Gochu sighed. "That's good," she replied. "For a moment there I thought you had come here because you didn't want us to see you die or something."

Mr. Strike sighed. _I just can't get anything past this girl…_

"I found an island off the coast of South City we could move to," Gochu suggested. "It would be much better than this cave."

Mr. Strike looked around. "But here you will be safe."

"Where are we, anyways?" Phoenix asked.

The old teacher replied, "About a hundred miles northeast of my old mansion. I plan on rebuilding that when the war ends."

Gochu folded her arms. "We can't monitor the enemy's movements from here. They were heading west."

"You can't be serious about confronting them!" Mr. Strike whined. "Did you not learn anything from your scouting mission?"

"I was ready to fight, then and there," Gochu insisted. "I was going to take him down with whatever I could. I-"

Mr. Strike stopped her with the lifting of his hand. "I know. Your direct descendance from the ancient Golden drives you to fight."

Phoenix's jaw dropped. "You know about that!"

The old teacher nodded. "Yes. It was during a night of particularly intense training three years ago that the curiosity about Gochu's heritage came to me. I dove into the books and, although I was able to pinpoint a line heading back to an ancient, pure-blooded warrior race known as the Saiyans, I was unable to pinpoint which line it went up. All records before World War III had been destroyed, save a couple old documents – a picture of several nasty-looking warriors, and a journal written by a girl named 'Bulma Brief'. I've been able to name the warriors in the picture, but it has not led me to trace Gochu's line back to the time of that photo, save for two people – a man by the name of 'Goku', the tall one in the middle of the picture on the wall -" Gochu and Phoenix walked over to an old, yellowed photo pinned to one of the cupboard doors and analyzed it "- and the short one a couple of people to his left – a man by the name of 'Vegeta', the one with the wicked widow's peak."

Gochu nodded. She noticed Mr. Strike had a mirror nearby, so she analyzed her face for similarities between the two. She noted quite quickly that her jaw shape was that of the man Vegeta, but her eyes and the surrounding structure looked strikingly more like the young baby girl in the photo.

"Who's this?" Gochu asked. "The baby in the photo."

Mr. Strike got up and walked over. "Oh, that's Goku's granddaughter Pan. She was the true hero of World War III, saving the earth with her partner and close companion Majuub when lawless rebels tried to overthrow the government at the tail end of the war. You can find a lot of information on her and Majuub everywhere."

Gochu folded her arms and hummed an interested, contemplative tune. She now knew the names of the Golden, or 'Saiyans' she could have descended from, either Goku or Vegeta. What she couldn't get over, however, was that she looked like _both_ of them.

"What about records between World Wars III and IV?" Gochu asked.

"Nonexistent," Mr. Strike said, confirming her fear. "The world was so racked with chaos during that time it was impossible to keep anything more than scraps of things. During the Great Data Purge about the middle of the war, led by the seven evil dictators that arose during that time, most of those records were hunted down and destroyed. It's a miracle that space exploration began and even survived during that time period at all. You can thank Capsule Corp for finally stepping in and establishing the law they did under Bulma and Vegeta's ninth-generation descendant Archaea Vegeta. For a time, the world reverted to being a mostly socialist republic, but with incredibly democratic processes. Using this system, she established control of, and eventually order in, the entire world."

Gochu looked at Phoenix. "So it is as you thought then."

"Capsule Corp is, in fact, the government," Phoenix confirmed.

Mr. Strike replied, "Archaea, up until one hundred years ago, ruled the world. She handed the world off to her offspring Hail, while she kept the company. The country has been independent of Capsule Corp since."

Suddenly, some echoing shouts were heard from the door they just emerged from, interrupting their strain of thought. Gochu pocketed the old picture and the diary. She and Phoenix took their mentor's arms over their shoulder.

"We have to leave," Gochu said.

Mr. Strike groaned, but complied. "Carry me, please. Where to?"

Gochu and Phoenix led Mr. Strike down a winding slope at the back of the cave.

"It's an island I discovered a couple years ago as I was exploring the world," the girl said. "It's small, but the islands surrounding it are prime for training."

Mr. Strike turned to Phoenix. "Have you been there?"

"No." Phoenix stated.

The teacher hummed a short note. "I always wanted an island of my own."

"Sarcasm noted," Gochu said. "But we can't go home."

Phoenix began crying. Gochu looked over at Phoenix, then quickly away. The trio flew sullenly away from all they knew. They realized at that moment the world they knew was gone. Those words had audibly ceased, but internally reverberated like a thousand cannons fired on a dinghy.

"We can't go home."

That day, they physically felt the world fall from freedom.


	6. New Beginnings

New Beginnings

After three long hours of travel over land they arrived at what appeared to be an extremely long archipelago. The drops of hardened lava seemed to extend forever into the distance.

"Any of these your island?" Mr. Strike asked.

Gochu shook her head. "Another hour, at least."

"Can we rest, then?" Phoenix requested, panting. "I'm hungry and thirsty."

Gochu then remembered her own aching muscles. "I guess we better. Otherwise we may drop our master!"

So they descended to a small island. It was sparsely populated by about forty or so residents. They landed just outside town, in a small, evergreen-forested area broken by tall, pink cherry blossoms. They walked out into the city.

As they explored the streets of the city, they picked up some new clothes. Gochu dressed herself in a red T-shirt and beige cargo pants, with white socks and black army-issue boots. She had looked over the bandanas, but decided not to get one. It didn't fit with her style, anyway. Phoenix wrapped himself in a loose-fitting, black martial arts gi, with brown runners and a blue belt. Mr. Strike picked up two more Hawaiian shirts, one blue with palm trees and one with a sunset pattern, a pair of lemon-coloured shorts, and black sandals. They bathed in the ocean before putting the clothes on.

When they had completed that, they decided to treat themselves to some good food. They went and found a restaurant named Zy's, deciding to partake in their culinary offerings.

As they entered the restaurant, Gochu licked her lips.

"Boy, I'm starving!" she exclaimed.

Phoenix nodded his head ecstatically in agreement. "I know! It's been, what, six hours since we've eaten last?"

"About nine," Mr. Strike corrected. He had already talked to the cute, blue-haired girl behind the bar and requested a table. "We ate breakfast about nine hours ago."

It wasn't long before they were seated. The waitress, a buxom blonde with very happy golden eyes and rolling, oceanic-blue locks, handed the menus out to everyone.

Mr. Strike blushed. _She's just my type… but I'm no playboy._

However, she spoke with a voice much gruffer than her appearance let on.

"What'll it be to drink?"

Mr. Strike looked over the wine list. "Sauvignon blanc for me."

"House wine fine?"

"Yeah."

"An' you?"

Gochu was caught up in her menu, staring at it, wide-eyed and drooling. The waitress chuckled and turned to Phoenix.

"She'll have a root beer. I'll have a milkshake."

"What flavah?"

"What kinds do you have?"

She sighed. "Let's see. Ya gotcha strawberry, ya chocolate, ya buttascotch, vanilla, raspberry, acai berry, tapioca and caramel."

Phoenix looked at her quizzically. "What's an acai berry?"

"It's a local berry grown where you guys landed. Tastes like chahcolate"

Gochu's head snapped up. "You saw us?"

The lady, leaned against the table and looked at her like she had the word "dummy" written across her forehead.

"Nothin' happens on this island without me knowin'," she said. "I could tell thatchall was comin' two hours ago."

"Actually, it was because I told her," a familiar voice said.

They looked over at the booth behind them. A big smile crossed over Gochu's face as she remembered.

"Peatree!" she exclaimed. "It's been a while."

The young boy waved them over. Peatree bit his lip as they approached.

"So, Peatree," Mr. Strike said. "Anything happen at that other school?"

"All of them were weaker than I was!" Peatree exclaimed. "I thought they knew faster ways to train, but they all said that you were the best!"

Mr. Strike blushed. "Did they now?" He coughed.

Peatree's left eyebrow rose. "You're sick, aren't you? Darn it!"

Mr. Strike's forehead wrinkled. "If you want to learn from me, learn from Gochu directly. Phoenix is already training with her. There's no reason she couldn't have a third student."

Gochu nodded. "Yeah, Peatree! I'll show you all kinds of techniques!"

Phoenix groaned. "Those are our training sessions."

Peatree stuck his tongue out at Phoenix. Phoenix responded in kind.

Gochu chuckled. "Now boys, there's no sense in being juvenile about this."

"That's… kinda what we are, Gochu," Peatree retorted. "We're juveniles. Kids! Or has your power become your age?"

Mr. Strike's fist hit the table. "That's quite enough, children."

"Yes, Mr. Strike," all three children replied in sync.

"Gochu, would you be open to training Peatree?" the elder man asked.

Gochu looked at Phoenix. "I am, but if these two can't get along, I won't. I don't want to see two of my friends fighting each other, except in the ring or in training."

Phoenix groaned again. "No! I don't want… _him_… in… _our_… training sessions!"

Mr. Strike looked at Peatree, then at Phoenix. "You two are of equal fighting strength, and you look like you have rival spirits within you. Maybe you could use that to bring your skill on par with Gochu."

Their dinner came and the four friends, though that was debatable between Peatree and Phoenix, began to eat.

"This looks good!" Gochu exclaimed. She dug in, face-first as always.

Phoenix ate calmly, without a rush and very methodically. He seemed to breathe between bites. Peatree had average manners.

"So it's settled," the sensei said as they were eating. "Phoenix and Peatree shall train under Gochu. Phoenix and Peatree shall then practice their skills together. Maybe then Gochu can have a challenge."

Phoenix groaned loudly. Peatree smiled mockingly and stuck his tongue out at Phoenix. Gochu simply gave a weak chuckle and a shrug. She was happy to train anyone, as long as she sensed a moderate level of improvement… and had a mostly-cooperative class.

"I don't want you killing yourselves on my watch," Gochu warned. "I will be firm… and Phoenix, I'm sorry, but I can't pick favourites."

Phoenix sighed disappointedly. "That's never been your way," he replied, dejected but acceptant. "Okay."

"I train five-year-olds on Wednesdays in North City, Peatree," Gochu said. "I'm unavailable then."

Peatree's grin had not diminished. "Okay, Gochu," he said.

Mr. Strike nodded. "It's settled."

The party paid, then left due south to Kame Island.

When they arrived, flying near the island, Gochu noticed the remains of the old Kame House. Phoenix and Peatree were charged with carrying Mr. Strike, so they followed her.

"There!" she said, indicating the lone, tiny island.

The party of four began flying towards the island, when Mr. Strike barked a halt to their journey.

"Gochu, can you blow up the house?" Mr. Strike asked.

"Why? It's a quaint little cott-" she began.

Mr. Strike seethed. "I swore to myself I would not die in a 'quaint little cottage' like all my descendants have for the last five thousand years, back to that womanizing creep Roshi! Blow that wretched sight up! My new capsule house will be fine!"

Gochu flinched. "Okay…"

She generated a small blast, then set it on the house, destroying the building. They set down on the shoreline, just on the edge of the large hole. Mr. Strike looked into the small hole, and smiled. He pulled out a capsule, clicked it and tossed it in the shallow basin. A three-storey capsule house with additional space for up to nine people popped up in a cloud of smoke. The three children ran inside, intent on exploring their new dwellings. Mr. Strike followed them.

_Here…_ he thought, smiling. _Here they won't have to worry about much besides food, and with my savings, they will be taken care of for years to come._

Just inside the living room, he collapsed to his knees, gritting his teeth in pain. Three tears ran down his face.

_I just wish the pain would stop…_

As Gochu, Phoenix and Peatree explored their new digs, they each claimed a room. Since neither Peatree nor Phoenix could compete with Gochu's power level, they deferred the room with the best view to her, though, when Gochu explained it to them, they found it hard to refute her logic that there was no room in the house with_out_ a great view. The bickering between the pair stopped for a few seconds as they explored the house some more. Atop the house, in a big glass dome, they discovered a massive training ground. This comprised of weights of all sizes, including weighted training clothes, an increased-gravity room, a large, central sparring arena, and a panel with several different training programs attached to the gravity room both on the inside and outside.

A fighter's training heaven!

Gochu drooled over the room. A state of massive excitement overwhelmed her small frame. Her feet took off, digging a small hole in the floor as she sped around the facility, chattering about how Mr. Strike was the greatest, he knew exactly what they needed, this was perfect, ad nauseam, endlessly going on about the completeness of the room.

Phoenix and Peatree, instead, eyed the purple sparring circle in the middle. They eyed each other up and down, and dove headfirst into each other. The ferocity of their fight caught Gochu's attention. She quickly put the 200-lb weight she held away and watched her first two pupils intently. The blows they traded, the energy expelled, the chaos of the fight… it all began to work its way together in her mind.

This was one _hell_ of a partnership!

Her eyes flashed green, but just for a brief second. She smiled as she watched her two best friends battle it out. Her heart raced. Her blood boiled. Her hair waved in the windless room. A tiny glow of gold surrounded her ankles.

It was enough that Mr. Strike felt the pulse.

He was jolted awake from his nap by it. This was different than Gochu's normal power-up. His felt as if her power had gone up almost tenfold in the blink of an eye, then instantly receded again. Her power was fluctuating wildly. So wildly, in fact, that Mr. Strike didn't know what was happening.

Despite the pain, he stood up and tried his best to move as fast as he could to the elevator to get up to the top floor.


	7. The Dodon Dojo

The Dodon Dojo

When he reached the upper floor, he gasped. Gochu stood in what looked like a pool of gold. Her ankles were glowing!

"Gochu!" he exclaimed.

Her eyes left the fight. The gold left her ankles. "Mr. Strike!"

The aged teacher found his way to a chair and sat down, eyeing his pupil intently. "Your power… It's greater than you let on, didn't you?"

Bewildered, she stared at him like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. "What are you talking about? I top out at 25,000 pic," she proclaimed.

"Just now, your power level matched that of a mid-level military officer," Mr. Strike declaired. "If my estimates are right, it piqued at almost a hundred thousand."

Taken aback by the revelation, she stumbled back a step. "What? How?"

"Did you become fully Golden?" he asked.

Unsure of what this would mean, Gochu shrugged. "No. At least… I don't think so… Did I?"

Mr. Strike sat silent, thinking for a moment. _The power surge came from Gochu, of that I'm certain. That pool was no illusion either. However, I've heard the transformation is unmistakable. Unforgettable. She would know for certain._

"No, Gochu," the elderly master deduced. "You did not become a Golden."

Gochu sighed, dejected.

Meanwhile, Phoenix and Peatree were tearing each other up and rending the sky in two at the same time. Their battle was fierce enough that they didn't even notice Gochu's incredible energy fluctuations. The two on the ground looked up at the fight.

Gochu smiled. "Peatree's improved greatly since we last saw him."

"Yes, he has," Mr. Strike commented. "He did receive some training at the Dodon Dojo."

"That's where those… strange moves come from?" Gochu asked, imitating Peatree's fighting style briefly.

Mr. Strike nodded. "At one point it was well-respected. Its founder, a man by the name of Tien, founded the school long ago along with his pal, the child-emperor Chiaotzu. However, as the school aged, it became filled with all sorts of dark-arts types. Assassins, thieves, thugs… you know the type. The teachers diverged wildly from what they were taught, opting instead for training from unknown masters, simply called 'The Cubes'. Rumour has it one is an android that predates all the people in that picture I showed you."

Gochu extracted the picture from her shorts pocket and analyzed it. "This picture looks to be thousands of years old," she commented, "and you're saying this robot's even older than that?"

"Yes. He is an evil man, driven by money and power," Mr. Strike informed.

Gochu pinched her chin between her index finger and thumb. "Wonder if he knows who I'm descended from?"

"Gochu, you're not thinking of actually…" Mr. Strike sternly began.

But when he turned to look for the girl, she was gone.

As Gochu flew, she began to search for any sign of the dojo. She had forgotten she knew not where it was. A little embarrassed, she pulled a U-turn around the next mountain intending to return to Kame Island and get directions from Peatree.

She didn't travel far when she passed over a large complex with several hundred very dark power levels. The concentration of evil made her sneeze. She dove down atop a roof, hiding just behind the peak with her back to a large wooded area. She peered overtop the peak.

There were at least four hundred pupils in the large training plaza. Towards her left, heading north, she spied several people sparring in a large, red fighting arena. One was a white-haired, red-skinned individual about as tall as Gochu was. His cocky purple eyes reminded her of Peatree's. His hair was long, his muscles were rippling and his distinct accent and loud, nasally voice caused Gochu to chuckle. It seemed mismatched to her, especially as he shouted to his partner.

This woman was tall, thin and looked fast. Her torso was demure, but her hips and thighs suggested powerful training, like that of a marathon runner. Her head was covered in scraggly, unwashed green hair. Her eyes were sharp and blue.

A third person approached them – a green-haired man enrobed in ninja's garb, face obscured except the eyes. He muttered something that caused the other two to crack up, laughing.

Something out of the blue caught her eye. It was a strange man, dressed in pink and black. His head looked like it had a strange helmet on it, with odd, beady red eyes. His hands were encased in metal gloves, striped like plate metal.

Her face registered slight shock. She didn't know the android would look half-human!

Just then Phoenix landed beside her. She looked over, checked over her friend, smiled, then went back to spying.

"Hey! That's the idiot that attacked me months ago!" he exclaimed, indicating the short, green-haired man.

Peatree hovered just behind them, eyeing the field.

"Mr. Strike sent you two after me, didn't he?" she asked.

Peatree chuckled. "Yep. He wants us to bring you back."

"I see the android-man," she said. "I want to ask him a few questions."

Just then, the man dressed in pink looked their way, then looked back to his friends. Gochu gasped.

"Y'think he saw us?" she asked Phoenix.

Phoenix looked around, then saw Peatree miles up in the sky.

"They probably saw Peatree," he said. "Let's get out of here."

Gochu held up her hand. "Wait. We didn't cause any alarm."

The man in pink and his two comrades departed away from the trio, across the courtroom into an eastern building.

"That's weird," Peatree observed. "Usually spies cause some kind of disturbance. Wonder why they're not coming after us?"

Gochu, Phoenix and Peatree continued observing the field. Eventually, the man in pink re-emerged from the domicile and moved to another part of the building. The green-haired man emerged with him, then shot a look directly at Phoenix!

"Incoming!" Phoenix warned, just before being impacted by a large purple fist.

The ninja materialized behind the suddenly-there limb and delivered a swift, flipping kick to Gochu's head. It sent her crashing hard into a nearby grove of trees.

Having watched his partners get assaulted, Peatree was prepared for the other leg that came around to meet him. He received it with crossed arms, bearing down hard with a counter push. The man's leg swept underneath Peatree and out of harm's way as the boy leapt over the redirected moving limb. Peatree laid into the man with a flurry of lightning-fast punches. He was grabbed by the hair and suddenly torn from his concentrated point of attack, flipped around and drilled into the earth face-first.

"Punk," the ninja said in a deep, guttural voice. "Lord Tao has no use for spies from Rokotaz's camp."

As quickly as he was thrown down, Peatree was ripped off the earth and given one solid punch that sent him crashing into the recently self-erected Gochu. Phoenix, however, snuck in two swift blows to his back and a kick to the head that toppled the ninja over.

"We're not from that loser's camp," Phoenix said. "How dare you bring my friends into this fight!"

He kicked at his assailant, but his foot was caught by the foe and he was quickly reduced to a pile of flesh atop Peatree and Gochu by the same punch that had knocked Peatree into the hapless girl initially. Gochu growled.

"This hurts," she said.

She crawled out from under her friends and stood. "The only reason you got that shot off on me was because you surprised me," she said. "Rest assured it WILL NOT happen again."

Instantly, she saw the fist appear in front of her again. This time, she readied a strong defence and not only set the ninja off-balance, but countered and sent _him_ face-first into the dirt! She quickly stomped on his shoulder. He screamed in absolute agony as his shoulder came dislodged.

"Damn you!" he cursed. "How did you do that?"

Gochu growled again. "The method doesn't matter. The fact is you are now on the ground, where you should be after a cheap shot like that!"

She stepped off his shoulder. He lifted his battered body up.

"How did a kid like you gain that much power?" he asked, seething at his defeat.

Gochu's serious look terrified him. She had more confidence in her abilities than most adults. The ninja began to sweat. She was just a kid, and yet something about her terrified him. He decided he was better off not knowing, so he changed his query.

He swallowed. "What do you want?"

Gochu replied, "I want to ask your master what he knows about the people in a photo."

He was taken aback. "You don't want to kill me?"

"As Phoenix said, we aren't from the camp of Rokotaz," she explained. "I have no desire to kill you. We may need your help to kick Rokotaz out of here."

The ninja swallowed again. "Lord Tao's gonna kill me, but as long as you act like new recruits I shouldn't have a problem."

Having recovered from their blows, Phoenix and Peatree were now standing up, watching Gochu interact with the ninja.

Gochu sighed. "Mr. Ninja Guy, You don't seem like a bad guy. Why do you side with this Tao?"

As they began walking,

The man in black began leading them to the entrance of Lord Tao's training ground, leaving the question hanging. He made sure to stay out of eyesight of the kids as he began shedding tears for his lost world. He had been a part of this organization for years, but recently had begun questioning the motives of the group. However, he had not forgotten about the family Tao had mercilessly taken from him when he was six years old. When Rokotaz invaded, the ninja had hoped that the alien would destroy Tao, but his master had struck a deal with their new overlord and his hopes were dashed. Through Gochu, he now had renewed hope that Tao could be toppled.

They entered the grounds by telling the guards they were merely curious new recruits. As they entered, the mood in the entire facility dropped at least ten pounds. Everyone was staring at Gochu, Phoenix, and Peatree.

"Get a load of those freaks…"

"Who invited them here?..."

"Betcha Mr. Strike's dead…"

"Why's Peatree with them?..."

Those were just some of the comments they heard passing through the complex. Peatree smiled. He was seeing a lot of familiar faces from his month at this camp.

Phoenix growled and stared intently at their new leader. He was incredibly upset that Gochu had sided with him, but could not refute her logic that they may need dark ones like… _him…_ if they were to drive Rokotaz off the planet. He wanted the fight to be about pure hatred, not Rokotaz. Not only that, but he had been played in their fight before. This ninja was not fighting at his full power.

He sighed, thinking,_ Things have not been going my way lately…_

Peatree heard the sigh and looked at his frenemy. He smirked out of secret satisfaction. He and Tao had a score to settle from when he was here last, and he was sure Gochu was going to settle it for him.

Gochu was ignorant of her friend's state of mind as she looked at each of those who were staring at her. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth slightly. Each looked like they were ready to tear them apart, so she prepared herself for attacks from all angles. She did not like this place.

After about five minutes of walking, they reached Master Tao's room. The ninja sat them in the reception area and told them to wait as he got his Master.

The ninja teen walked out of the room and right into Master Tao.

"I see you've brought in the spies from the rooftop," he observed. "Have you executed them?"

"No, sir… they were curious, so I told them that they could come in and look around," the ninja replied nervously. "They are new recruits."

"Let's get this straight, Wesley," Tao sternly replied, "The only new recruits allowed are the youngest children of those we kill, without exception; those too young to remember anything only, and no one else."

Wesley the ninja sighed. "So I kill them, then."

Tao nodded. "They are surely no threat to you."

"One is Peatree," he recalled.

Tao's face fell. "Peatree shall be left to me. Kill the rest."

"They all bear the mark of Strike," he said.

Tao sighed. "Never could I master Roshi's pupils while they lived. I will make certain these ones die… by my own hand!"

He picked off one of his arms and stormed into his secretary's office, blazing the room with gunfire. Phoenix, Peatree and Gochu dove for the ground.

"So, you're the students of Sparta Strike," Tao said flatly.


	8. Generations Between

Generations Between

Tao fired another round into the office, landing three bullets in his secretary and killing her mercilessly. Gochu groaned.

"What's this guy's beef anyway?" she asked.

She peered over the desk that she and her friends hid behind. She ducked back behind the desk when Tao riddled the room with bullets again.

"Phoenix!" she said amongst Tao's gunfire. "I need you to put up an energy shield for me so I can subdue him!"

Phoenix proceeded to generate the energy shield. Peatree snuck around to another desk, hiding behind it and the shredded body of Tao's secretary. Gochu felt Phoenix's energy in front of her – a hexagonal, golden wall of increasing endurance capability. As she stood it filled out and glistened slightly. Phoenix focussed his attention on his friend, thinking only about her safety as she stood. Tao smiled and targeted her with a flurry of bullets in such amounts that one would mistake the reflected, embedded bullets in the walls for a fancy tiling job. The wall of reflection also stopped the sneaking Peatree cold in his tracks.

Finally, after Tao realized his attacks were futile, he ceased attacking, swallowed and reattached his arm. He sighed.

"That damn Roshi…" he muttered.

Gochu walked right up to him and smiled. "Hi! I'm Gochu."

Tao glared at her. "Won't you descendants of Goku just… die!" he demanded.

Gochu shrugged. "I don't know what that's supposed to mean, but I need to ask you a few questions."

Tao looked at her quizzically. "Since I can't kill you yet, humour me… What is it you want to know?"

The girl held up the picture. "Who are they?"

Tao looked at the picture and screamed. "These are the people I could never beat! Just like you… you are one of their descendants!"

"Well, you caught me by surprise," Gochu protested. "Good fighters never try to catch someone by surprise!"

Tao grew incredibly cross with her. "How dare you judge my fighting ability!"

Gochu sighed. "Then there's no other way to do this, is there…?"

The android raised his arms. "Whenever you're ready to come out of your cowardly shell, please do."

"Let it die, Phoenix," she said, sighing. "I'm going to have to find out about my heritage another way."

Tao smiled. _This way I'll kill her for sure!_

As the energy wave in front of her dropped, she didn't even prepare a defence. She simply raised a hand. As soon as the energy wave dropped, Tao threw a punch. The punch connected with Gochu's hand. The punch was stronger than Gochu expected and she quickly brought her other hand up to steady the blow. She quickly directed her attention to the leg coming at her from the side, defending by blocking with her shin. She countered with a swift left knee to the stomach and a right-to-left roundhouse kick to the face, knocking Tao out of his office into the cafeteria to Gochu's left. She dove after him and set upon him again, fists flailing, as she quickly took control from the android.

In the midst of her flurry, she asked, "Can we stop and talk for a second?"

Tao growled. He tried to punch her, but he quickly found himself kissing the earth with his neck stomped on by her foot.

"Since you had to go and attack me, talk," she demanded, whipping out the picture from her pocket. "Who are these people?"

Tao cringed, having been defeated once again by a member of Roshi's school. "Let me up and I'll tell you everything."

Gochu sighed. "Next time, just tell me, please…"

"Yeah, yeah…" he muttered bitterly.

She got off his neck and he stood up. Taking the picture from her, he looked it over. He grimaced at the remembrance of these people.

"The only ones I know for sure," he said, "are the big guy in the middle…"

"…the one in the funky suit?" Gochu interjected.

Tao shook his head. "No, the one in the orange suit _beside_ the one in the funky suit. His name is Goku, and he was the person I feared and hated the most. He was an incredible man and a brave fighter."

"Goku?" she asked.

Tao sighed. "The last time I heard anything about him, he was battling a guy named Buu… I left for the stars for a few years after that."

Gochu pinched her chin in thought.

"If I'm not mistaken," she said contemplatively, "the one in the strange green suit is Goku's son, and that little red-shirted kid is Goku's granddaughter."

"Pan." Tao named the face. "She was a mean fighter in her day, especially her and that Majuub kid… their exploits were legendary. I heard that Goku tried to stay out of the limelight as much as possible, but Majuub, Pan, and their friends Arceus, Winkkit and Lowshorts made up a crew of fighters known as the 'Chargekeepers'."

"They came up against my crew a lot during their lifetime, in addition to saving the world from four very strong opponents. Pan often took the lead role, until she became pregnant by Majuub with her first child, a boy named Axle. She retired from the main crew after that, raising and training Axle to take over the Chargekeepers. Unfortunately, the following invader after the four, a man named Hero, killed Majuub and Arceus of the Chargekeepers, forcing Pan to step in again. Unfortunately, the battle would cost her Lowshorts, who sacrificed himself to save her and her kid after she escaped. She finished off the fight shortly after being caught."

"Years later, she had her second kid by Winkkitt, a boy she named Dartiz, the day before her first son was to marry his bride. These two would give birth to the second Son Goku the day before the world's peace was shattered again, this time by yours truly, as I took the world by storm. However, the new Chargekeepers, which included Axle, a sassy boy named Rent, a proud teen girl called Roulette and a dog-man named Surge, interfered with my plans and ended my empire, but not before I ended Axle's pathetic life!"

"Shortly after Pan heard of his death, she and Winkkitt pursued me to the ends of the world. However, I managed to kill Winkitt and escape. Later I heard that Dartiz had succumbed to a severe illness – the same heart virus that I heard Goku was battling before he took on that monster Cell."

He gripped his arms behind his back and began slowly twisting his wrist.

"The Chargekeepers would continue on without Pan as she retired and took her grandson Goku deep into the mountains, where she would train him in the ways of her grandfather Goku. Their band would last for seven more years and pass down the teachings of Roshi before World War III struck – a severance of the international kingdom and a battle not seen since World War II, 145 years prior to the arrival of Goku on Earth. This was a non-nuclear war – a vicious battle that nearly turned nuclear before the world was embalmed in peace once more. Most of the Chargekeepers were killed, but the two that survived continued to pass the training – and the Saiyan genes – on."

Gochu's head cocked. "Saiyans?"

"Those were the origins of Goku, the one referred to in the history books as the Third Golden, that I learned during the torture I put Axle and his buddies through before his death. Goku was not human, but a Saiyan, and all Saiyan genes on Earth passed through him. In fact, the research about the Saiyans is incorrect in these history books. Vegeta, the vertical-haired Saiyan mentioned in history as the Original Golden, was not. Goku was the first to achieve the feat in his generation, but he was not the first. Even Broly was in fact not the first either. The first Super Saiyan – and I learned this only after meeting with a long-lost branch of Saiyans during my travels between the attack of Cell and after the assault on Earth by a group of demented dragons – was a Saiyan by the name of Seed, a long-dead ancestor of Goku and Broly."

"So then I descend from Goku," Gochu realized.

"At one point, descendants from the two lines married," Tao informed. "It may have been during the lull after the heavily nuclear World War IV, but I was absent then, too. All I know is when I came back, there was a 'proud Saiyan prince' on the throne and he had a 'proud Saiyan princess' at his side."

Just as Tao began to expose a ridiculously long, sharp blade, three warning sirens exploded with sonic fury.

"What the hell?" Tao shouted. "What is it?"

Gochu growled, upset at being interrupted. "Now what?"

Phoenix and Peatree immediately darted outside to see if they could help.

Engines, shots, screams, and violent grunts were heard from the courtyard of Tao's dojo. It sounded like a large number of fighters had descended into the centre of the building! As Gochu was distracted, Tao quickly picked up his arm and disappeared into the next room.

Suddenly, a shout exploded amidst the chaos, aided by a megaphone.

"The Dodon Dojo is hereby closed by the decree of the new king of Earth, Rokotaz the Invincible!"

Gochu, Peatree and Phoenix darted outside to a chorus of laughter and an image of enslaved fighters. Fear gripped their hearts and their tongues swelled in their mouths.

All were kneeling before one man – a giant of a quadripede. He appeared as a centaur, a being with a man's torso and a horse's body. Four giant, bony horns protruded from his shoulders. His rump's fur was a vibrant, flame orange. His tail and hair were a rich black. His eyes were a deep forest green.

His torso was clad in solid steel armour, plated with gold and interlaced with emerald silk. His lower half was covered with the same double-layered steel plate mail, arranged so it could not be penetrated. His head was cuffed in a large, Roman-style centurion's helmet, forged in the same way as the armour and padded with two layers of cross-threaded, twice-woven silk. A movement of the arm revealed he wore the same material under his armour, making his armour virtually impossible to penetrate.

He had planned well.

He had the eyes of a warrior.

And he had complete command over those now in control of the Dodon Dojo.

There was no mistaking it. That centaur was Rokotaz!


	9. A Beautiful Massacre

A Beautiful Massacre

Rokotaz looked around commandingly at the dojo. He strutted down from his spaceship, a massive hulk of a vehicle reminiscent of a super-sized Chevy Camaro, decorated in solid crystal amber _markillite_, the single rarest jewel in the entire universe and found only on the planet Reuxys VI's Yamark moon in a small cave near its west pole buried sixty feet in the diamond-hard crust. As he neared the base of the staircase, his minions brought a little over five hundred imprisoned students and just slightly fewer than forty teachers and had them kneel down before the centaur.

Gochu observed Tao was not among them. He had abandoned his dojo. This revelation filled Gochu with anger towards the old android, causing her power to spike suddenly.

Rokotaz's attention was drawn to the building where they hid. He focussed and spotted Gochu staring at him. He pointed at her!

"Shit!" Gochu swore. "Phoenix! Peatree! We have to get out of here now!"

Phoenix, Peatree and Gochu attempted to escape by darting in three different directions. Each, however, were soon captured by minions of Rokotaz and brought before the horse-man, forced to kneel with the evil occupants of the dojo. Rokotaz looked to his left and up a little. He saw Tao and one of his minions battling it out. With a growl, he brought his arm up into the air and detonated an impossibly strong energy blast between them, killing them both!

Fully two-thirds of the people in the square kneeling before Rokotaz shrieked at the sound of the explosion, Gochu, Phoenix and Peatree included. The third that didn't were Rokotaz's men.

Satisfied, Rokotaz waved to his troops who steadily filed everyone into the vessel. Gochu, Phoenix and Peatree joined the crowd, gelling their way into the ship.

Suddenly, a loud blast echoed through the ship. Mr. Strike came crashing through the hull like a meteor. He took two minions to the side.

"No!" Gochu shrieked.

The three kids leapt in to help take the minions down. Gochu and Phoenix split one of them away from their sensei, while Peatree and Mr. Strike continued battling the other villain. Unfortunately, the two weakest fighters had claimed the strongest minion on the ground – the minion quickly made short work of the old man and his sidekick, then attacked and separated Gochu and Phoenix, staking his claim as Phoenix.

Though she witnessed their falls, Gochu couldn't help any them. She was busy, matched up with a minion that barely exceeded her power. She swung three strong punches, which missed their marks as the minion dodged them. The minion struck with two punches, an elbow and a kick, knocking the wind out of Gochu and sending her crashing to the earth.

Phoenix screamed. He attempted to strike the one who struck Gochu down, but it was no use. He felt a strong blow to his head, then a crushing crash against the earth, where everything went black.

"Pathetic," the one Peatree fought said, spitting at the earth. His short tail angled sharply near the tip, splitting into ten sharp spines. "These are the strongest powers we felt?" His back curled around like a snail shell, but his body was that of a green man.

The other one, a purple allosaurus-like lizard with eight humanlike arms in place of the short, stubby arms, just laughed as they turned to walk away. "These powers… they're just children and old men… The army was more of a challenge…"

Having caught her breath, Gochu looked around the battlefield, then at the two villains who stood before her. She coughed, catching her breath once more. Gochu's power began to grow as the insults continued.

The green snail-man chuckled and waved Rokotaz and the rest of the ship off. Their comrades had herded the remaining people into the ship. "I don't know about you, Leek, but we best leave these guys here. They might make for good training."

Leek, the allosaurus, sighed. "Subpar, at best, Pyo."

Gochu placed both of her palms on the earth and slowly rose to one knee. Rokotaz's ship took off.

Pyo chuckled again. "You got that right. We won't even need to report this to Rokota- what?"

Leek and Pyo looked back at the girl. She was holding a blast in her hands – a strong blast.

Pyo smiled. "So, she does have some fight left."

Gochu smiled. "Never have I been that close to death before. What a rush!"

"You can't be serious," Leek said. "We gave you our strongest hits!"

Gochu licked her lips. "Then we're even… perfectly paired-up."

Pyo and Leek prepared for further engagement.

Gochu lunged and roared. Her roar shook the earth, sending Pyo and Leek to the ground. Before they got to the earth, she skimmed her belly on the ground and back-kicked them into the sky, pushing off the earth with her hands. She power-elbowed them in the chest, sending them crashing down. Pyo was the first up, launching into space with a howl.

"You were hiding your power!" he furiously declared. "Deception is the worst sin one can commit in my race's social order!"

He threw ten punches in three seconds. Gochu blocked all but the last two, which struck her across the head. She fell several feet from her floating position, but caught herself just as Pyo dove down in an explosive freefall.

"Calamity Cannon!" she shouted, throwing the massive energy blast directly at Pyo.

Pyo was so close, he didn't even notice it. He took the full force of the blast on his head, which quickly gave way, and his shoulders, which were blown off his body as it exploded. As the beam disappeared into the distance, a quiet explosion resounded.

Suddenly, Gochu felt a strong blow to her back. She had forgotten about Leek! Within the next two strikes, Leek had her on the earth, strangling her.

"Your head will make a fine piece for my wall," Leek said, grinding the back of her head into the dirt.

Suddenly, a beam struck his back. Phoenix was standing, pained and exhausted, but pissed.

"You caught us off-guard," he said. "We will make sure you die."

Just as he set himself up for shooting a blast that would have destroyed Leek, he collapsed. Rokotaz materialized behind him, hand in a punch position directed at the middle of his back.

"Do not attack my ship again," he stated flatly in a deep, growly monotone.

Mr. Strike opened his eyes and saw Rokotaz stepping towards Gochu. "Dammit… No… Gochu, run…" he coughed weakly.

"Leek," Rokotaz spoke.

Leek looked at him and saluted. "Yes, Lord Rokotaz."

"These troublemakers are mine," Rokotaz said. "Obviously you couldn't handle these outlaws."

Leek replied, "I was handling them well enough."

"Your power level is exactly half her maximum," Rokotaz observed. "Your next battle would have been your last. Now, go and help repair the ship. I will take care of them."

Leek saluted and took off. Suddenly, a blast crossed his path and destroyed him. Peatree stood up, breathing heavily. A single hand extended into the air.

"Nobody leaves that's weaker than me," he retorted.

Stepping closer to Rokotaz, he smirked and continued speaking. "Centauri don't belong on this planet. Earth is not for the taking."

Rokotaz, without a change in expression, replied, "I destroyed your pathetic military. I will imprison those who resist and live, and destroy the rest. I have every right to claim this planet for the Illumina Empire."

"All that stands between you and world domination is us," Peatree said confidently. "We will make sure you don't have the chance."

Rokotaz simply replied, "As you wish."

Without appearing to have exerted any effort, he quickly incapacitated Peatree with an Instant Transmission and four quick hits, then he returned to Gochu and smiled.

"The only fighter of any calibre on this stinking rock now stands before me," he spoke admirably. "Though you are still weaker by several times, I respect you."

Gochu's face twisted into a mass of confusion. "You respect me? How could you have known about me?"

Rokotaz grinned in an unfriendly manner. "I want to see if you fight as well as they say you do when you're at the end of your rope. All of my men are away."

"Don't you care about Leek?" Gochu asked.

Rokotaz's face flat-lined again. "He died in the war above the conquered Earth, not down here to some two-bit fighter."

Gochu frowned. "That's just not nice."

The centaur held up a hand. "One cannot afford to be nice in war."

"There is always time to be nice," Gochu prepared a defensive position.

"Then learn what it is to be in war!" Rokotaz shouted as he unleashed a blast of energy so large Gochu could not defend against it.


	10. The Final Lesson

**The Final Lesson**

Gochu was knocked a hundred feet backwards as the blast overran her defences. She could barely resist the energy that connected with her, but she did. With great difficulty, she broke free of the blast and directed it harmlessly into space. She was wasted and drained. It took all of her power just to think through the pain. She stumbled over to a fallen log.

Rokotaz chuckled a little as he took steps towards the girl, collapsed against the horizontal timber.

"I have to hand it to you," he said. "I wasn't expecting you to survive that blast."

Gochu coughed, replying in a drained voice, "I have to say I surprised myself there, too." She groaned as the loud, dull pain reverberated through her body. She continued, "So, now that you have your victory, kill me. I'm completely helpless."

Rokotaz folded his arms. "There is no honour in killing an incapacitated foe. I am rather interested to see how you will grow, and whether in the future we will be able to have a proper death match."

Gochu coughed again, then wheezed twice. "God, I think my ribs are broken," she observed. "I can barely move my arms." She smiled at Rokotaz. "You're not a bad guy when you're not trying to dominate a species, you know."

Rokotaz looked around. "Your race has been flattened and/or captured. This scuffle was the last one before I declare this planet conquered for the Illumina Empire and claim governorship of the land. There are no more battles to fight here. Why should I be of war?"

Mr. Strike couldn't believe his eyes! Here was Gochu, talking with the enemy after just being pounded flat by his attack!

Suddenly, Rokotaz's radio clicked on. "Yes, Empress Illumina…"

Rokotaz walked away. Gochu finally managed an adequate breath not broken by coughing and looked out at the field.

"Phoenix… Peatree… Mr. Strike…" she said as her eyes passed over their bodies. "Thank you."

Mr. Strike began to crawl over to Gochu. His frail body moved at a terribly slow pace. Gochu spotted the shuffling elder and smiled.

"Good. Mr. Strike's alive," she mumbled weakly.

Phoenix and Peatree weren't moving, but even from this distance Gochu could make out faint signs of breath being drawn. She breathed a sigh of relief – they were only unconscious. Gochu looked up at the sky and drew shapes from the lazily-drifting clouds to pass the time.

After what seemed like an agonizingly long time, the aged sensei finally reached his prize student. He righted himself on the tree stump, sorting his body out into a sitting position.

"Gochu…" he said weakly.

The girl looked at him and nodded.

Mr. Strike groaned loudly. He had exerted the last of his energy.

"I won't make it out of this battle alive," he said. "The person he's talking to right now… Empress Illumina… she isn't known for sharing her new possessions with the native populace. She will likely order the deaths of both you and me to clear the planet of inhabitants. Phoenix and Peatree will be considered a non-threat and used for hunting sport. When I do what I have to, remember that when the time comes to face Rokotaz again, you must fight with the memory of what is to happen."

He handed her a small satchel and fed her a small green bean.

"Take this senzu bean and tuck it under your tongue. Just as Rokotaz delivers the deathblow, swallow it. It will heal your entire body, but wait until Rokotaz finally leaves to move. At that time, feed one each to the boys, and when they come to, give them two, explaining what they are and what they do. Take an additional two for yourself and, once you pass by the island and pick up my capsule house, escape into the mountains to train. There are a lot of caves in the Yunzabit Heights, allowing for a lot of hiding."

This was a lot for the young girl to take in. She just sat there, stunned. She began to process everything her mentor taught her.

"Let the boys be seen. Let them satiate Rokotaz's hunting parties. Let that be their training. But you… don't step off the Yunzabit Heights for a while. Let Rokotaz believe you are dead. He cannot sense power levels, so you should be safe. Pick a cave deep in the Heights to set up the house, then train – not for a tournament, but for the sake of the human race. Reclaim Earth. Hopefully you'll be able to reclaim the earthlings from the Illumina Empire in the future."

The aged one lost himself in a fit of coughing. He cleared his throat and spat up some blood.

Suddenly, a light ray pierced Mr. Strike's heart and he died. Gochu screamed.

"The Empress Illumina has ordered your demise," he said. "Pity… I had hoped to use you as a toy."

Gochu knew her task, though the next few seconds were a shocked blur. She waited to swallow the bean as he pointed his index and middle fingers at her. She saw his fingers flash, and swallowed the bean just as the laser sliced through her heart. The stump blew up, sending an unconscious Gochu flying forward, and Mr. Strike's corpse off to the side. The girl lay down and did not move.

The bag of beans Mr. Strike gave her spilled all over the earth.

Rokotaz turned away and began trotting back to his ship.

"Mission accomplished," he thought.

_To be continued in…_

_Dragonball Genetica_

_Season 2_

"_The Hero's Soul"_


	11. For Liberty

"You can't get anything without giving first."

- Sparta Strike

For Liberty

Phoenix woke up in the Strike Mansion, but it was much darker than he had remembered. He was of unusually good health and vigor for having just had his butt handed to him in a fight. He tightened the blanket around him as he remembered the simple attack that had brought him down.

Gochu walked in and smiled a sad smile. "Good morning, Phoenix," she said.

"Gochu!" Phoenix exclaimed. "What happened?"

Gochu growled. "Rokotaz beat us handily. He knows you two are alive, but he has no clue I survived his death beam."

"And Mr. Strike?"

Gochu clenched her fists and bit her lip. A tear slid down her cheek.

Phoenix's face dropped. "No…"

He looked at his hands. They had been unsuccessful in defending the Earth.

"So… we're the only ones left of our species on this planet…" he realized. "We are… IT."

Gochu swallowed and nodded. Sobs escaped from the girl. "How did he know?" she questioned.

Phoenix shook his head. "Master…" He looked at Gochu. "How did he die?"

Gochu choked on her spittle, sending her into coughing convulsions. When she was through, she sobbed again.

The boy smiled. "I bet it was fighting," he said. He threw a couple of punches. "Bam-Bam! Like that!"

Gochu nodded. "He died…" – she took a breath – "He died giving us life."

She pulled the senzu beans out of her pocket and poured them on the table. Two beans remained.

"There were nine," she said. "One to eat, two to carry. These are what gave us our lives back. They're a miracle food… and in very limited supply. After you two were knocked out, he and I engaged Rokotaz himself and were totally thrashed. It would have been just you two if Mr. Strike, in sheer pain and agony, hadn't crawled over and given us these. He told me to put one under my tongue…" her speech broke several times over these last words "…and swallow it just as Rokotaz shot me, just before that bastard took him away!"

She slammed her fists into the table. "So help me God, Rokotaz, you will die!" she screamed before dissolving into tears.

Having heard this, Phoenix reeled back in shock. Even at the end Mr. Strike thought of others before himself. The young warrior collapsed to the ground and hunched over, arms folded over his knees and eyes closed. The psychological pain and shock still affected him deeply. Yet, he didn't cry. His mind reflected on the teachings he had learned, the techniques he was taught, and the trips they went on. Eventually, he managed a smile and a nod.

"What did Mr. Strike tell you we are to do next?" he asked.

Gochu took a deep breath. "You and Peatree are to be hunted for sport by Rokotaz's men. I am to stay hidden and train in the gravity chamber. This is how we will be able to train and to gather intelligence. We are only to attack when I feel we are ready. Peatree has already been at it for about three days, so he knows their routines well."

Phoenix nodded. "As much as I dislike being treated like an animal, it will provide some entertainment, I guess. What about the rest of the world?"

Gochu's head dropped. "We get them back when we can."

"You three will not make it without some additional help," a deep male voice said at the door.

Gochu and Phoenix jerked up and out of their seats, ready to defend their home. They barely trusted anything from outside the cave anymore.

The man at the doorway was dressed in flowing, white robes. He held a staff his size of knotty oak. His head was capped with a turban, which itself was topped with a blue gem. He also wore a red vest and a mauve cloth belt.

The defining feature of this man, however, was that his skin was green from head to toe.

"What kind of monster are you?" Gochu shouted.

The green man held up a hand. "I'm not here to harm you. I have seen the devastation this evil man has done to the planet. Also like you, I have blood that runs back to the time of the Golden, specifically through the lineage of the Guardians of Earth, and even well back into alien history."

"You're Namekian," Phoenix said. "I remember now – the race that assisted the Earth more than any other in the past was the Namekians. But, I don't have blood that runs back that far…"

The green man smiled. "You do. Your blood runs through the line of the Briefs. You are a direct descendant of Bulma and Vegeta's daughter Bulla and the courageous Z Fighter Majuub, from a child brought forth out of wedlock named Task."

"How can we trust you?" Phoenix asked.

Gochu relaxed. "He's given us no reason to distrust him, Phoenix. He also doesn't have the physical power to harm us. Feel his aura – it's as pure as glacier water." She turned her attention to the newcomer. "What's your name?"

The Namek smiled. "I'm glad you trust me. My name is Denji. I am named after the Namek who became a legend amongst our race – Dende. I am the hundred-first child of his own eighty-fifth."

"So, if you know Phoenix's line, you should know mine," Gochu said, offering the man a seat with a tap on a chair.

Denji nodded. "You are descended from Goku and Vegeta in this way – from Goku's son Goten, and from Vegeta's son Trunks, the result of a marriage four generations after their deaths."

"So Gochu and I are distant cousins. What about Peatree?" Phoenix asked.

Denji thought a bit, then replied, "Peatree is descended from Krillin and a mysterious girl named 18, with no crossover of Saiyan genes _at all_. In fact, if my memory is correct, he's the last pure human alive."

"Last pure human…?" Gochu queried. "The human race still lives. I'm human."

Denji nodded. "But you are also part-Saiyan. Peatree has absolutely no association with Saiyan genes whatsoever, down any part of his line. Frankly, I'm surprised he is physically able to keep up with the human-Saiyan hybrids of this world."

"Wasn't 18 an android?" Phoenix asked.

Denji sighed. "According to the tablets of the Guardians of the Earth, she was human before an evil scientist from the past transformed her and her brother against their wills."

Phoenix cringed as Gochu gasped.

"How sad…" the young girl commented.

Denji allowed for a few seconds of silence, then continued. "If you ever need my help, some more senzu beans, or some help training, I'm in the Guardians' Palace atop Korin Tower. Be warned – it's quite a climb."

Phoenix began rummaging around the fully-stocked kitchen for a tasty snack.

"Where's Korin Tower?" Gochu asked. "It will be good to keep it in mind."

The boy found a juicy, red apple and took a ravenous bite.

"It's on the other side of the world from here," Denji replied. "Since you can fly, fly around until you can find the highest tower you can find – the one that stretches for an eternity into the sky. Start at the bottom and climb up the tower itself. As it stands, you aren't powerful enough to fly up to reach me."

"What do you mean, she's not powerful enough?!" Phoenix exclaimed, mouth full of apple. "She can fly a thousand feet into the sky!"

"Straight up?" Denji asked.

Gochu shook her head. "It takes too much strength to fly straight up. In a corkscrew, yes, I can fly a thousand feet up. I understand your point, though – the point of the tower is to train one's body."

Denji nodded. "You catch on quick." He began to hover into the air. "Come find me when you think you're ready."

In a flash, he disappeared. Gochu felt the breeze on her face from the slight air shock. She knew what she had to do.

"Phoenix,"

The boy, his apple half-finished, looked over her way. "Yeah?"

Gochu took a breath, releasing it. The next decision she made she normally would not have without consulting Mr. Strike. She knew, however, that the kind of opportunity she had just been presented with – the right to train with the Guardian of Earth, did not present itself every day. As much as she wanted to obey her teacher, she knew what she had to do.

"I'm going to go to Denji's place," she said. "There may be things that he can teach me that nobody else can."

Phoenix said nothing, chewing on his apple pensively. The invitation was an open one, but he knew he and Peatree would need to hold the fort down here until Gochu was back, ready to free Earth from the tyrannical hold of Rokotaz.

Gochu shook her head. "I just wish our enemy wasn't so… _honourable_…"

Phoenix`s face twisted into a mass of confusion. "_Honourable!?_ He's enslaved our race! How is that honourable?"

Gochu turned away. "You didn't hear some of the things he said while you were knocked out. He was talking about sparing me, even after he blew the crap out of me." She quickly drew a breath. "He was even talking about training with me."

Knowing her desperation at finding a training partner, which was a role he used to fill, Phoenix blushed out of embarrassed shame. He said nothing and kicked at the dirt.

"Damn!" she continued. "The person I want to fight the most is one I can't engage because I'll die for sure!"

Phoenix's eyes brightened. "Until you're ready, you can use that as a motivational goal."

Gochu's dark depression instantly turned into a shining smile. She turned to Phoenix, leapt and glomped him with a ferocious bear hug.

"Thank you, Phoenix!" she said in extreme gratitude. "You always know exactly what to say."

Phoenix watched her flash off into the blue, off once again on the pursuit of her goal. He stood there at the doorway, listening to nothing, and fighting with his own thoughts. He was happy that she had now found her new challenge, but sad that he knew exactly how quickly he would fall into obsolescence. He didn't want to be obsolete to her. He wanted to always be able to call her his sister. He wanted – and this thought sent him into an unusually bittersweet panic – he wanted to be defeated so she could get better.

He collapsed onto the earth in his depression, confused and bewildered. He didn't cry; he was paralyzed by confusion. His head was flooded with doubt, but at the same time his creative side was flaring up at an unusual rate. He was thinking of ways to help.

Suddenly, it occurred to him. His role had changed, but he hadn't. He had expected life to maintain a sameness that it hadn't. He knew he was her main encouragement. He knew she relied on him to get through.

She needed him, even if he couldn't train her.

He looked up at a cloud shaped like a raccoon and smiled.

"No matter what," he said, "I will be there for you… Coonie."

He sighed, taking a moment to observe the beauty in the cold, white landscape that was to be his home for a while, then he leapt into the sky, taking comfort in the fact that her life still remained a secret to the one who could kill them all.


	12. The Illumina Factor

The Illumina Factor

A poetic lyric floated through the air of his imagination. Who was the girl he fought? A relaxing Rokotaz gathered himself, lifting his massive body off the earth. He took a couple of steps out onto his deck into the cool night breeze.

The girl was strong, of that he was sure. He wasn't entirely sure how she got that strong. This light gravity was murder on his power, so there was no way she could've gotten as strong as she had without some serious training. Her level didn't feel like the child her visible biology led him to believe she was.

Her analysis, however, was right on the money. He was no bloodthirsty murderer, just a man who knew his place in the universe. He breathed, thought, felt, and dreamed just like everyone else, and until he had met her, he had kept his personal desires suppressed. Now, however, he was beginning to question his role as a warrior for the Illumina Empire – the first time he was questioning his role in years.

He waved over one of his three personal butlers. Each of them was of the highly-subservient, sentient race known as the Quoxians: a race of tall, gangly, thin green Cyclops-like individuals. He told the butler to bring him a drink, then began to pace as he often did while thinking.

"Despite being so weak compared to myself, she had eyes like I've never seen before," he mumbled to himself. "There was a determination – no, a desperation within her being that seemed to want to explode from within; a violence that could shake the universe."

He made up his mind. He knew he hadn't killed her. Whatever she had that she swallowed had cured her. That was plain as day from how the old man had talked to her. He wasn't interested in that. No, he was interested in how strong she would get. That's why he had faked most of the length of the call he received from Illumina.

That said, why would Illumina call one of her generals directly? He still puzzled over this. It was highly unlikely of Her Majesty to call anyone but one of her four Arms Chiefs. To call an ordinary general… something had her unsettled about the four she had hand-picked at the start of her reign.

"I think I had better let my commanders know that I will leave this planet soon," he said, calculating what the call might mean for the future. "Empress Illumina doesn't call an ordinary general unless she doesn't trust one of her Arms Chiefs."

He reflected on the call. All that the Empress had said, besides the customary greeting, was "Be prepared to return in one year." That meant that the girl named Gochu had less than seven months to train to fight him before he had to leave the planet. He had to let them know without letting them know he knew about Gochu's survival. Her friends, Phoenix and Peatree, the ones his own generals were charged with chasing, would be the perfect way to make sure this occurred.

He walked over to his monstrous desk – an astonishing, very highly detailed red cedar, single-piece carve with drawers carved whole from a second tree and stained deep red to match. He tapped the surface of the desk, on a screen with a small red button. A holographic projection burst forth into the air, with cubes and windows and spheres all over the place. He checked his generals' schedule. He quickly "grabbed" one of the spheres, moved it near his face and spoke, his voice firm and succinct.

"Rokotaz calling Crystal and Aguas… Rokotaz calling Crystal and Aguas… report to my office immediately for a special assignment. Thank you."

The centaur then returned to his vigil over the fields surrounding his ship. He waited patiently, his impeccable sense of time counting the seconds until…

"Crystal reporting for duty."

A sultry voice reverberated throughout the room. The girl that belonged to the voice stepped out of the shadows. Deep purple in colour, she had a flawless figure and stunning, deep blue eyes. Her skin-colour hair was short, framing her face like a perfect portrait. She stepped with the lightness of a model, but with the firmness of deep confidence in her abilities.

"Good entrance, my assassin queen," Rokotaz smiled. "I barely heard the door open and close."

Crystal huffed. "It's not good enough if you can hear it," she complained.

"Remember to leave the door open a bit instead of closing it all the way next time," Rokotaz warned. "Only close it after your work is done."

Crystal nodded. "I will."

"Now, where's your brother?"

Crystal sighed. "He's out gallivanting with girls again…"

Rokotaz grunted in frustration. "It will take too much time to get him, so I guess you get this mission."

Crystal nodded. "Yes, sir."

Rokotaz brought up three images of children.

"You know Gochu, Phoenix and Peatree," he stated.

Crystal nodded her response.

The centaur continued, "We are leaving in one year's time to head back to Rominolli IX, the headquarters of the Illumina Empire. I want to fight Gochu before then. Do not tell her directly, don't get hostile with them, and for goodness' sake don't let them know that I know. Tell her friends she has seven months to train if she wants to battle me."

Crystal repeated, "I am to tell Gochu's friends Phoenix and Peatree that if she wants to fight you, she has to be ready in six months."

Rokotaz nodded. "Get going. Our time here dies with the wind."

Crystal disappeared the same way she arrived – into the blackness of the shadows. Rokotaz took a deep breath and released it slowly, pondering the time he had. He may have to make Crystal train Gochu to get her to his level.

"Then again," he thought, stroking his chin with his thumb, "she knows this planet better than any three of my goons. She ought to have some special methods."

He took his drink from his recently-arrived butler and sipped the shiraz, rolling the drink around in his mouth to taste the full flavour. He gently sloshed the ruby drink around in the crystal drinking glass he held as he continued thinking about the little girl.

"This desire in my heart…" he mumbled as he felt the gleam in his gut grow, "This… thrill...! I haven't felt this much anticipation in almost fifty years."

He chuckled. "Oh, Gochu, you will become as strong as I, and we will fight together again!"

He burst into full-bellied, gleeful laughter. He knew she was waiting, just like he was. He knew her desires were just as strong as his. He knew the eyes of a warrior when he saw one.

He knew his first perfect opponent in decades.

…And he wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by.

Rokotaz decided he had some minions he wanted to battle, and slipped out of his room to train himself. He wasn't just going to wait and get soft.

"Where's the fun in that?" he mumbled and laughed.


End file.
